Bye bye Real Madrid! Hammered by Man City

Fate, thanks to many years of hard work, planning and effort (... and also a succulent financial investment, obviously), has once again given Pep Guardiola the chance to be in another Champions League final. The man from Santpedor has not lifted it since that distant year 2011 when, surely the best Barça of all time, gave a footballing bath to Alex Fergusson's Manchester United at Wembley.

Above all, it has been the result of the success of an idea, of a project, which began eleven years ago with Ferran Soriano as CEO of Manchester City and Txiki Begiristain as sporting director. Together they laid the foundations for a team that has ended up being one of Europe's greats.

Ten years ago City were not even among the best teams in England, they did not appear in any ranking chart... and today they are on their way to winning their fifth Premier League in the last six seasons, an astonishing record and of tremendous merit, because to rule in England with such authority is not just any old thing.

If it is important what they have achieved and how they have got this far, it is even more important how they have done it: with a unique, recognisable and quality football, where the ball and possession are essential. Txiki and Pep have given the team the players with the necessary profile to develop football in a certain way. That is, without doubt, one of the keys to the astonishing growth of this team in recent seasons. Manchester City will be playing in the Champions League for the second time in their history and both with Pep Guardiola on the bench. A solid and unbreakable pairing as it is the first time in his career that the former Barcelona man has spent more than four years at the same club. This is his seventh season at the Etihad. And what's still to come...

Last night, by the way, two of the seven coaches who have lifted the Champions League (or European Cup) as a player and as a coach met at the Etihad. On Pep Guardiola's side, it was sweet revenge after a painful and merciless semi-final exit when the final was just minutes away. On that occasion, a goal from Rodrygo sank City, who succumbed to Real Madrid's epic performance... and at the Santiago Bernabéu.

This time the draw benefited the Mancunians and the effect of playing at home vanished for the white players who last night were a rag doll, especially in a first half where City abused Madrid. Getting through to the European final by scoring four goals against the defending champions, who had won five since 2014, is something you don't see every year. 

Glory for Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City side comes again on 10 June at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. There awaits Simone Filippo Inzaghi's Inter Milan, an old Barça 'acquaintance' as they played in the group stage at the same stadium.