Champions League Squads of the Season #2: Manchester City 2022-23

 Champions League Squads of the Season: Manchester City 2022-23 

Manchester City's road to success to the final in Istanbul proved that anything is possible, as the Citizens won the Champions League for the very first time in their history, capping off a historic treble winning season, a feat that has only been accomplished once before by an English club, as Pep Guardiola's men also won the Premier League and FA Cup earlier that season, matching Manchester United's iconic treble winning season. After the sorrow of the final in Porto two years ago when Pep's men lost to Chelsea in the final, City finally got their hands on the Champions League, ending many years of suffer and heartbreak in Istanbul. After 143 years, Manchester City were champions of Europe for the very first time. 

The Squad (Players who were featured):

#2: Kyle Walker (ENG) 

#3: Ruben Dias (POR)

#4: Kalvin Phillips (ENG)

#5: John Stones (ENG)

#6: Nathan Ake (NED)

#7: João Cancelo (POR)

#8: İlkay Gündoğan (GER)

#9: Erling Haaland (NOR)

#10: Jack Grealish (ENG)

#14: Aymeric Laporte (ESP)

#16: Rodri (ESP)

#17: Kevin de Bruyne (BEL)

#18: Stefan Ortega (GER)

#19: Julian Alvarez (ARG)

#20: Bernardo Silva (POR)

#21: Sergio Gomez (ESP)

#25: Manuel Akanji (SUI)

#26: Riyad Mahrez (ALG)

#31: Ederson (BRA)

#32: Máximo Perrone (ARG)

#33: Scott Carson (ENG)

#47: Phil Foden (ENG)

#80: Cole Palmer (ENG)

#82: Rico Lewis (ENG)

The Run: 

Group Stage: 

MD1: Sevilla (A): 4-0  (Haaland 20', 67'  Foden 58'  Dias 90+2')

MD2: Borussia Dortmund (H): 2-1 (Stones 80'  Haaland 84')

MD3: FC København (H): 5-0 (Haaland 7', 32'  Khocholava 39' (OG),  Mahrez 55' (P),  Álvarez 76') 

MD4: FC København (A) 0-0

MD5: Borussia Dortmund (A): 0-0

MD6: Sevilla (H): 3-1 (Lewis 52'  Álvarez 73'  Foden 83') 

Qualified as group winners 

Round of 16: 

Leg 1: RB Leipzig (A): 1-1 (Mahrez 27') 

Leg 2: RB Leipzig (H): 7-0 (Haaland 22' (P), 24', 45+2', 53', 57'  Gündoğan 49'  De Bruyne 90+2')

Quarter Finals: 

Leg 1: Bayern Munich (H): 3-0 (Rodri 27'  Silva 70'  Haaland 76')

Leg 2: Bayern Munich (A): 1-1 (Haaland 57') 

Semi Finals: 

Leg 1: Real Madrid (A): 1-1 (De Bruyne 67') 

Leg 2: Real Madrid (H): 4-0 (Silva 23', 37'  Akanji 76'  Álvarez 90+1')

FINAL: 

Inter Milan (Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey) 1-0 (Rodri 68')

FINISHING PLACE: WINNERS 

Awards Won: 

UEFA Player of the Year: Erling Haaland (#9) 

UEFA Champions League Player of the Season: Rodri (#16) 

UEFA Men's Coach of the Year: Pep Guardiola

UEFA Champions League Team of the Season: 

- Kyle Walker (#2)

- Ruben Dias (#3)

- John Stones (#5)

- Kevin de Bruyne (#17) 

- Rodri (#16) 

- Bernardo Silva (#20)

- Erling Haaland (#9)

Manchester City qualified for the 2022-23 Champions League season on 20th April 2022, following a 3-0 win against Brighton, qualifying them for their 11th consecutive Champions League campaign. They eventually qualified as Premier League champions, winning the league in the most dramatic of circumstances, going 2-0 down against Aston Villa to winning 3-2 while sealing the title. However, despite attaining another Premier League title, Manchester City set their sites of the Champions League, looking to avenge the sorrows of Porto two years ago, as the Citizens lost 1-0 to Chelsea in their first ever Champions League final. In the 2021-22 season, City were just minutes away from making another Champions League final, going 5-3 up on aggregate against Real Madrid, come the 90th minute. However, stoppage time heroics from Rodrygo, made it 5-5 on aggregate, before Karim Benzema's extra time penalty saw Real Madrid make the final, winning 6-5 on aggregate. However, after retaining the Premier League title, Man City made some crucial signings including Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, Manuel Akanji, Julian Álvarez and many more. As winners of the Premier League, City were allocated in pot 1, and were put in a favourable group with Sevilla of Spain, Borussia Dortmund of Germany and København of Denmark. 

GROUP G: MANCHESTER CITY, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, København 

The Citizens started off their campaign in Sevilla, taking on the all time Europa League champions, Sevilla. At the time at which Sevilla were struggling in La Liga, sitting in 17th place. This made City's victory in Sevilla look more routine, winning 4-0 thanks to a brace from Haaland and goals from Ruben Dias and Phil Foden, sealing an emphatic opening day victory. The following week, come the 80th minute in matchday 2 against Borussia Dortmund, City were down 1-0, with 10 minutes to play. Moments of magic rescued three points for Pep Guardiola's men, with a screamer from John Stones equalising things before Erling Haaland's acrobatic finish against his old club made it 2-1, before eventually seeing out the win. A routine victory against Copenhagen followed, with the English side winning 5-0 with goals from Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez, Julian Álvarez and an own goal from Davit Khocholava. Consecutive 0-0 draws against Copenhagen and Dortmund then followed, but a final day win against Sevilla, sealed first place in the group. 

Qualified as Group Winners 

ROUND OF 16: RB Leipzig vs MANCHESTER CITY 

The draw for the last 16 took place on November 7th 2022, four days after the Matchday 6 victory against Sevilla. City were paired with Bundesliga side, RB Leipzig, who recently finished 2nd in a group containing Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic. Leg 1 took place in the Red Bull Arena, on the 22nd of February. City took the lead going into half time, with Riyad Mahrez capitalising on a defensive error by the hosts. However, 20 minutes from time, future City player, Joško Gvardiol, settling a 1-1 draw in Leipzig with all to play for in Manchester. In the second leg three weeks later, it was just a Manchester City dominance, as the Citizens won 7-0, with Erling Haaland being the star of the show, scoring a first-half hat trick, getting City 3-0 up going into the half. Gundogan added a fourth early on in the second half, before Haaland scored another two goals, making him only the third player in Champions League history to score 5 goals in a single Champions League game. Kevin de Bruyne then rounded the night off with a stunning goal in stoppage time, making it 7-0 to the Citizens, charging into the quarter finals. 

Manchester City win 8-1 on aggregate 

QUARTER FINALS: MANCHESTER CITY vs Bayern Munich 

The draw for the quarter finals took place a few days after City's emphatic win over Leipzig, and City were handed with arguably the most eye-catching draw possible, being paired up with heavyweights and favourites, Bayern Munich. The Bavarians had the most impressive defensive record up to date, conceding only 2 goals, while winning all their games while playing against other heavyweight in Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSG. The first leg was played in Manchester, with the hosts providing a dominant and high-urgency performance. Rodri opened the scoring in the 27th minute with an absolute screamer from outside the penalty area, setting the pace in the first half. 25 minutes into the second half, Bernardo Silva's aerial prowess doubled their lead before Haaland's clinical finish made it 3-0 and sealed an emphatic win. The following week in Munich, City rounded off a 1-1 draw, with Erling Haaland on the scoresheet, sealing City's third consecutive semi final spot.

Manchester City win 4-1 on aggregate 

SEMI FINALS: Real Madrid vs MANCHESTER CITY 

As part of the quarter final draw, Manchester City were scheduled to face either the winner of the quarter final between the last two winners of the competition, Real Madrid and Chelsea. Ultimately, the reigning champions, Real Madrid proved too good for this Chelsea squad, and were set to face City for the third time in four seasons, looking to avenge their previous semi final defeat last season, in a game which has become one of the most eye-catching encounters of the 2020s decade. 

The first leg took place at the esteemed Santiago Bernabeu, and Man City started their night in Madrid, with some good pressing. However, Real Madrid proved deadly whenever they got the ball again, and have managed to escape from the tightness of Man City's defence, and unleashed a counter attack which ended in Vinicius Jr rippling the ball into the back of Ederson's net in what was one of Real Madri'd first chances of the game. However, midway through the second half, City managed to find a way back into the game, with a thunderous strike from Kevin de Bruyne, which rippled into the back of the Real Madrid net, making it 1-1. Both teams played a careful game for the remiander of the game, ending the first half in Madrid with a 1-1 scoreline, leaving all to be decided in Manchester the following week. 

In the second leg, Manchester City delivered a relentless performance, filled with outstanding quality. City started off with attacking pressure, with their best chances coming from Haaland, both headers. However, heroics from Thibaut Courtois kept Man City at bay, but was defenseless against a powerful strike from Bernardo Silva from close range, not long before the Portuguese doubled his lead through a looping header, eight minutes from the end of the first half. In the second half, Man City dominated despite some attacking threats from Real Madrid, sealing the victory through Manuel Akanji's deflected header and Alvarez's late goal, sealing an emphatic 4-0 win against the now dethroned champions, while sealing a final encounter in Istanbul against Inter Milan. 

Manchester City win 5-1 on aggregate

FINAL: MANCHESTER CITY vs Inter Milan (Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey)

The final quest in Manchester City's long-awaited treble hunting season came against Inter Milan of Italy, who were appearing in their first Champions League final since 2010. Inter have persevered and surpassed all the adversities in the Champions League up till this point, from surviving the group of death containing Bayern Munich and Barcelona, up to the the semi finals, where they faced their biggest rivals, AC Milan, who after an impressive defensive display, clinched a place in the final and were ready to showcase their excellence on the big stage in Istanbul, as were Pep Guardiola's men. 

However, throughout the first half, City found it hard to find a way past such a solid Inter Milan defence, despite attaining most of the possession in the first half. City also had a midfield problem with Kevin de Bruyne being withdrawn due to injury. Early on in the second half, Inter began to threaten more, forcing Ederson into crucial save in attempt to disrupt City's rhythm. However, the breakthrough finally came in the 68th minute, and it woudln't come from Inter, it would come from the boys in sky blue. It came when Bernardo Silva’s cutback led to a blocked shot falling kindly to Rodri, who curled the ball through a crowded box into the bottom corner to give City the lead. Inter responded almost immediately and strongly, when Federico Dimarco's hit the bar before the follow up was blocked by Romelu Lukaku. Plus, in the dying moments of the game, Lukaku's header was briliantly deneid by Ederson, helping City perserve their slim advantage. Eventually, the full time whistle blew and City were crowned European champions for the very first time, completing a historic treble under Pep Guardiola, while etching a new name on the esteemed European Cup. 

Picture Above: Manchester City captain, İlkay Gündoğan, lifts the trophy and becomes the first Man City captain to win the Champions League. 

15 years since Manchester United emerged victorious in a cloudy night in Moscow, the Champions League trophy was returning to Manchester. Pep Guardiola made history, as he became the first manager to win a continental treble with two different sides, as the Citizens have overcome the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, to finally put years of heartbreak behind them. Since the 2022-23 season, Man City have fallen short in the quarter finals and the knockout play-offs, both in the hands of Real Madrid, but hepfully we see them contesting for the title again sometime soon.