10 June 2023 , 12:00
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Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour will be at tonight's Champions League final in Istanbul.
The Sheikh, who bought City in 2008, has only attended one competitive game since taking over the club - a 3-0 home win over Liverpool in 2010. But the Sheikh has flown into Istanbul by private jet to watch City try to create history by winning a first Champions League title to clinch an historic Treble.
Pep Guardiola's side have already bagged the Premier League title and FA Cup, and can emulate local rivals Manchester United's Treble of 1999 with victory over Inter Milan at the Ataturk Stadium. The Sheikh, who will attend the match along with City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, is expected to meet up with Guardiola and his players after the game, before jetting back to Abu Dhabi.
Victory for City would earn them English football immortality and Guardiola is well aware of the glory on offer. "It's absolutely a dream. Absolutely," the Catalan boss declared. "To achieve things always have to have the correct portion of obsession, desire. Obsession is a positive word. It's a dream for all of us."
The Premier League champions are heavy favourites against an Inter Milan side who only finished third in Serie A this season. How will City deal with the pressure? "Every single game we play during the season, this press conference how many people here. We know how important the competition is," Guardiola affirmed.
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"I don't control what the people have an opinion about, just focus on what we have to do. I saw as many Inter games to see what we have to do. At the end it's a football game. The team who perform better over 95 minutes will win. Over history, Inter are bigger than us. It's not important. Important is tomorrow at 10pm Istanbul time we do the best performance as possible."
Sheikh Mansour will watch Manchester City attempt to finally win the Champions League in Istanbul (Getty Images) Have your say! Will Manchester City win the Champions League final? Join the debate in the comments section.
Centre-back Ruben Dias, who's won the English title in all three of his seasons with City, added: "I've said for a long time, not just now in these final moments when everything gets decided. When we got to February’s, March, it's the sweet spot.
"You see the character of the team in these stages, if you want to move forward or start hiding. Especially since that moment, we've shown up every time. Tomorrow is no different. We all have to step up, we all want to do it."
Star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne also said: "We've been consistent, good in this competition. We need to find a way to win the first one. It would be immense for the players, club, fans. It would be amazing."
Betting odds with Bet365
Match Result
- Man City - 9/20
- Draw – 7/2
- Inter Milan – 6/1
To Lift Trophy
- Man City – 2/9
- Inter Milan – 10/3
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