Manchester City finally won the Champions League in Istanbul in 2023
Istanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadium had been handed the Champions League final twice before, in 2020 and 2021, only for COVID-19 to move it both times. When it finally hosted one, in June 2023, Rodri's second-half goal gave Manchester City a 1–0 win over Inter Milan and their first European Cup.
The victory completed a treble for Pep Guardiola's side, who had already won the Premier League and the FA Cup, and it was City's first European trophy of any kind since 1970. UEFA named Rodri man of the match. On the way, City knocked out defending champions Real Madrid, who had won a record fourteenth title the season before, in the semi-finals.
The 2022–23 edition was the 68th season of Europe's top club competition, and the 31st under the Champions League name. The calendar was unusual: because the 2022 World Cup was played in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December, the group stage was squeezed into early September to early November.
The competition began far from the glamour. A total of 78 clubs from 53 of UEFA's 55 member associations took part; Liechtenstein, which runs no domestic league, was one of the two exceptions. The very first matches were a four-team preliminary round played in Reykjavík, Iceland, with the winner advancing to the first qualifying round and the losers dropping into the Europa Conference League. Clubs knocked out of later qualifying rounds similarly fell into the Europa League, so an early exit still meant European football.
Places were shared out using each country's results in European competition over the previous five seasons. Because Real Madrid also qualified through their league position, their reserved spot as holders passed down the list, lifting the champions of Ukraine straight into the group stage. As winners, City earned a Super Cup meeting with Europa League champions Sevilla.
Source: 2022–23 UEFA Champions League
