How many Champions League finals have Man City played in?
Manchester City overcame PSG to take their place in the 2021 Champions League final but how many other finals have they appeared in?
It was a fascinating semi-final but Manchester City came out on top over the two legs. The first match in Paris was the clichéd game of two halves, the home side dominating early before a flip later on, and then at the Etihad the Premier League champions-elect got the job done in style, despite the visitors having their share of chances.
Pep Guardiola is into his third UCL final - having won the other two - but what about his latest club?
City's European Cup and UCL history
Many younger football fans will automatically associate the name of Manchester City with the Champions League, but the sky-blue side of Manchester progressing to the latter stage of European football's premium competition is a recent phenomenon.
Before the 2011/12 season, Manchester City had only participated once in UEFA's top club competition once, that was back in the 1968/69 season after their previous English First Division win the previous season. Their European adventure was a brief one however with a first round elimination at the hands of Turkish champions Feberbahce on an 2-1 aggregate scoreline. City did bag the 1970 Cup Winners Cup as Joe Mercer's side overcame Polish outfit Gornik Zabrze as City eventually secured their first, and to date only European trophy in a 3-1 play-off match.
Since the 2011/12 season, City have never failed to not qualify for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League and despite domestic dominance in the Premier League, only in the 2015/16 season did the Sky-blues get close to major European glory in reaching the semi-final of the competition.
Managed by current Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini at the time, City faced Real Madrid in the two legged semi-final with a tense 0-0 in Manchester in the first leg.
A packed Bernabéu witnessed a 1-0 home win for Real Madrid with a Fernando o.g in the 20th minute deciding the tie in a game where City showed limited attacking ambition with a certain Noel Gallagher watching on from the VIP area of the ground.
PSG unable to avenge 2019 final defeat
A 1-0 win over Rapid Vienna in the 1995/96 European Cup Winners Cup is PSG's only taste of European glory (if you excuse the 2001 InterToto win) and since their acquisition by (Qatar Sports Investments) QSI in the summer of 2011, winning European football's Champions League has become something of an obsession for all at the Parisian club.
Last season's pandemic hit competition was as close as the Ligue 1 side got. In the one off games staged in Lisbon, PSG overcame plucky Atalanta and saw off Leipzig in the semi-final with a convincing 3-0 win to set up a final against Bayern Munich.
A solitary Kingsley Coman goal for the Bundesliga side just before the hour mark was enough to see Bayern win the title and break Parisian hearts.
PSG had a reputation of being chokers after memorable meltdowns in recent years, and two red cards in the two legs against City suggest it is a tag they're going to take a while to shake off.