How many Champions League finals have Manchester City played in?
The ‘Sky Blues’ were in the hunt for a place in the 28 May final in Paris and faced Real Madrid with a 4-3 advantage from the first leg.
Manchester City have been a dominant force in England since the arrival of Pep Guardiola in 2016 but remain in search of their first Champions League title, while Wednesday’s semi-final opponents Real Madrid have won the trophy a record 13 times.
The closest the ‘Sky Blues’ got to winning the most coveted trophy in European club football was last season when Guardiola’s men faced Chelsea in Porto with a solitary Kai Havertz securing the win for the Londoners.
“We have not won it but winning it would change that little narrative... It would change the perspective from the outside,” City’s Belgian player Kevin De Bruyne said in Tuesday’s pre-game press conference. “The fact we’ve been fighting for numerous years and getting to the latter stages means we’ve been doing really well.
“I back my team to perform at the high level needed to win the game tomorrow... Everybody is anticipating a great game and we will try and bring out the best we have and hopefully progress to (the final in) Paris.”
City’s Euro glory
Man City are one of the English clubs to have secured European silverware with their Cup Winners Cup win back in the 1969/70 season.
One of the most famous moment in club’s more than hundred years was the UEFA CWC final at the end of the 69/70 season. In that the Sky Blues took on Polish side Górnik Zabrze - a much less renowned club these days - at the Prater Stadium in Vienna, Austria. City won the match 2-1 with the goals coming from Neil Young and a penalty from Francis Lee. Pep Guardiola’s current set of global superstars are favourites to end the fact that, to date, this is the club’s only European trophy.
The club were regular competitors in the UEFA Cup back in the 1970s and with the acquisition of their Emirati owners in 2008, City have been ever-presents in the Champions League since the 2010/11 season with last season their closest to Euro glory.
Unfortunately for their fans, it’s going to be another wait as they were knocked out in an incredible fashion by Real Madrid in the 2022 edition.