Win a treble? Why not relax and sit on the pitch… Erling Haaland basks in the glory at the Atatürk Stadium? Photo: Getty Images/Simon Stacpoole
Manchester City won the treble due to their proximity to the European Conference League final. Not the kind of sentence anyone expected to read a few months ago, but West Ham's dizzying joy so fresh in the mind, City's rise felt like a strange containment.
Obviously, their players and staff were delighted. This does not mean that City took their victory for granted or were not happy enough. There were mosh pits in the dressing room, Rodri sang “Freed From Desire” to Gala, and the outfitter crawled across the floor in his pants.
Manchester City&# 39th anniversary of the Champions League victory celebration 🤣📷pic.twitter.com/xfaANOYijz
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) June 11, 2023
Kyle Walker had the guts to start streaming live on Instagram. Bernardo Silva, 100 percent joking, said: “After all, it's just another day at the office.” Nevertheless, this is exactly the meaning that crept in immediately after the game. There were hugs, “Campeones” were sung, then the increasingly familiar sight of men in sky blue lifting a trophy into the air. It all looked like it was happening with the handbrake on.
Unsurprisingly, this must come across as a bit disappointing considering it was City's third trophy in three weeks. Even if he has reached high frequencies, there are diminishing returns in these moments. City's run to European glory was not a separate storyline of the English clubs' three previous Champions League victories; Chelsea in 2021, Liverpool in 2019 and Chelsea in 2012.
On the contrary, it was the last chapter of a great story that ended the disturbing Treble neighbors. If that was the focus before the game, after it was done, it was more like the end of an even longer story, 15 years since Abu Dhabi arrived at the Eastlands. It is difficult to express the scale of these achievements in one celebration.
On the contrary, West Ham players (except Emerson Palmieri) are not used to such scenes, and their fans are even less so. For them it was not only a joy, but also a novelty, and the mood on the field in Prague on Wednesday night was completely erratic: Declan Rice was lifting the children from the crowd, David Moyes was dancing.
It was like this at Wembley with Luton Town a couple of weeks ago: players and fans who never expected to get into the Premier League struggled to process it in real time, but screamed a lot as they thought about it. Perhaps some of this also affected City: too many scales to make out in minutes after the final whistle.
Another day, another trophy – and all this for a day of work for Manchester City, when they complete the treble in Istanbul. Photo: Getty Images/Michael Steele
The main difference is that City are counting on winning. Rodri and Jack Grealish were the first to approach BT Sport, both enthused but keen to point out how poorly they played in the first 45 minutes. These are the standards that Pep Guardiola hammered into his players.
After the trophy was delivered, Walker strode across the field, as if glad to be allowed in without a migraine-inducing tactical plan. Ilkay Gündoğan skirted the billboards to cover the mile between the football field and the fans, the vast distance not helping the sense of chance. But on the whole it was a graceful and low-key celebration in an increasingly ugly time.
Most importantly, the City seemed tired. Exhausted by the game, the season and victories. With a little rest and decompression, their open top bus tour on Monday is sure to be surreal and wonderful. Then there will be real fun, interacting with more of their people than could ever be accommodated in a stadium in the suburbs of Istanbul.
We can remember their celebrations in Turkey as almost ominous. The message is clear: it's okay now.
Europe should be afraid. Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are no longer as scary as they were a few years ago, Real Madrid have lost solidly this season, Xavi's Barcelona have yet to win the Champions League, and the Premier League is obviously not much gives City a worry considering they've won it in five of the last six years. Nights and similar spectacles can become quite commonplace.
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