Man City reach first CL final

Manchester City reached the Champions League final for the first time in their history after Riyad Mahrez’s double secured a 2-0 victory (4-1 on aggregate) over 10-man Paris Saint-Germain on a historic night at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola, who reaches the Champions League final for the first time since he won the competition with Barcelona in 2011, will now lead his side against either Chelsea or Real Madrid in the final in Istanbul on Saturday, May 29.

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg at the Parc des Princes last week, PSG, who could only name Kylian Mbappe on the substitute’s bench, thought they had a chance to cut the deficit early on after referee Bjorn Kuipers pointed to the spot for a handball against Oleksandr Zinchenko. However, Kuipers overturned his original decision after replays showed the ball clearly hit the full-back’s shoulder.

City took full advantage of the reprieve as Mahrez (11) found the back of the net from a tight angle to put them in an extremely dominant position at the break.

PSG committed plenty of bodies forward as they looked for a way back in the tie, but there was no way through City’s rock-solid defence and the French side were eventually caught on the counter-attack as Mahrez (63) finished another fine City move to put the game beyond any doubt.

City’s second goal sparked plenty of PSG frustration and they finished the game with 10 men after Angel Di Maria’s kick out at Fernandinho in the 69th minute, ending any chance of a miraculous comeback as City eased to a historic victory.

This year’s final will take place in Istanbul on Saturday, May 29.

The Ataturk Olympic Stadium famously staged the 2005 Champions League showdown, when Liverpool came from 3-0 down at half-time to beat AC Milan on penalties.

UEFA has not yet confirmed the kick-off time.

 

Rent for add