On the day of the UEFA Champions League final, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he got a message from Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United.
The Citizens won their first European Cup on Saturday night by defeating Inter 1-0 in the final, becoming the second team in English football history to win the triple crown.
The only other side to accomplish this feat was Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, who defeated Bayern Munich in the spectacular Champions League final in 1999 after winning the Premier League and FA Cup.
In last week’s FA Cup final at Wembley, Man Utd had the chance to end their noisy neighbours’ treble dreams, but they lost 2-1.
Ilkay Gundogan scored the game’s first goal, the fastest in FA Cup final history, but Bruno Fernandes’ penalty made it even. Nevertheless, the German midfielder scored again in the second half to seal the victory.
Man City struggled against Inter in Istanbul, and it took them till the 68th minute to break the scoreless tie.
They were able to survive a late barrage of Nerazzurri opportunities thanks to Rodri’s ferocious strike from just inside the 18-yard box that beat Andre Onana at his near post.
Guardiola acknowledged in a post-game press conference that he had spoken with Ferguson before the Ataturk Olympic Stadium game.
“It’s an honour for me to be alongside Sir Alex Ferguson. I got a message from him this morning. It touched me. It was nice,” Guardiola said.
Ferguson was defeated twice by Guardiola in his only two meetings with the Catalan, with Barcelona defeating Man Utd in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals.
Guardiola has now won 12 major titles at Manchester City, as well as two more Community Shields, making him the club’s most successful manager by far.