Don't Look Back... Manchester City's journey from the bottom to the absolute top

It's over! After a sensational European campaign, Manchester City was finally crowned European champion after a tough win against Inter Milan (1-0) over the weekend.

After the Citizens' incredible performances against prestigious teams such as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, some expected to see them crush Inter side whose qualification for the final was unexpected. However, the early injury of playmaker Kévin de Bruyne and the audacity of the "Nerazzurri" cast doubt on Pep Guardiola's squad.

But a goal from Rodri (pictured) and a poor showing at the other end by the Italian forwards proved the Sky Blues could finally triumph in the Champions League.

This victory is the culmination of a long process of building the team since the takeover of the club by an Emirati fund in 2008.

The arrival on the bench of Catalan master Josep 'Pep' Guardiola in 2016 (and more than a billion euros spent on the transfer market since that date) gave Manchester City a decisive new impetus. Seven years later, the club is crowned with a memorable hat-trick.

Long in the shadow of its neighbor Manchester United, one of the most successful English clubs, City has incredibly improved its performance over the past fifteen years, to the point of dominating England and becoming one of the strongholds of European football. Let's look back at the journey.

Founded in 1880 as St Mark's West Gorton, the club was renamed Manchester City on its professional debut in 1894. It had been a founding member of the Second Division two years earlier.

The Citizens rose to the top flight of English football in 1899, after winning the Second Division. The club won its first trophy, the FA Cup, in 1904. And it was crowned champion of the First Division, the ancestor of the Premier League, in 1937.

Relegated to the Second Division in 1963, Manchester City quickly regained the elite, even winning a new English league title in 1968. The Sky Blues also won their first European competition, the Winners' Cup, in 1970.

But this period of prosperity was followed by a long decline. Relegated twice in the 1980s, City even fell to the third division in 1998. A low point for the club, at a time when Manchester United, coached by Alex Ferguson, was triumphing on the national and European scene.

The beginning of the 2000s is a period of return to the highest level. Manchester City were once again promoted to the Premier League and participated in the UEFA Cup after 25 seasons without playing in European competition. It was also around this time that the Citizens moved from Maine Road to the City of Manchester Stadium.

In 2007, former England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson took over the reins of the team and became the first foreigner on the Sky Blues bench. After an excellent start to the season, City finished in ^9th place in the championship in 2008. Despite the support of the supporters, Eriksson was ousted after a year.

The year 2008 marks what is surely the most important event in the history of the club – the takeover by an Emirati investment fund. A new era begins and Manchester City now has unprecedented financial power.

The management of the club then spent lavishly, recruiting Brazilian Real Madrid star Robinho in the summer of 2008, and then other talented attackers like Sergio Agüero and Edin Dzeko in 2011. Managed by Roberto Mancini, the Sky Blues won their first title in 35 years, the FA Cup, in 2011.

The 2010's will be the decade of City's return to the top 5 of the Premier League. In 2011-2012, the club won the English Premier League title, just four years after its takeover.

One of the highlights of this exceptional season was the 6-1 victory at Old Trafford, against arch-rivals United. It was like a changing of the guards, between the declining Red Devils and rising Citizens.

Under the guidance of Manuel Pellegrini, City once again win the league in 2014 and achieved a double with the League Cup.

The Premier League fight has been fierce against Liverpool, whose title hopes were dashed at the very last moment after Steven Gerrard's famous slip.

After several eliminations in the group stage and in the knockout stages of the Champions League, City joined the last four in 2016 at the expense of PSG, before losing in the semis against Real Madrid, the future winner of the competition.

The year 2016 is a new step in the forward march of City, with the arrival on the bench of Pep Guardiola. The Catalan coach had won two Champions Leagues with the Barça of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, considered by some to be the best football team of all time. He then sparked for three seasons at Bayern Munich.

Renowned for installing a precise possession game, Guardiola has big ambitions for the club. But his first season was mixed, his team being left behind by Chelsea and Tottenham in the league, and eliminated by a spectacular Monaco in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

It's only a postponement because Guardiola has a long-term project and is patiently building his squad. Upon his arrival, he can already count on a solid framework: Kun Agüero, David Silva, Fernandinho, and talented Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne.

To strengthen the team, the Spanish coach brought in top level players such as wingers Leroy Sané and Riyad Mahrez, Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva, English defenders John Stones and Kyle Walker and Brazilians Ederson in the nets and Gabriel Jesus in offensive.

But beyond these individual talents, it is the alchemy of a perfectly oiled collective that allows City to conquer England and Europe. The control of the ball shown by the Sky Blues clashes in an often very physical Premier League.

And the hard work pays off, as Manchester City has won the most competitive football championship in the world five times in six seasons (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023).

The Mancunian club was beaten only once over the period by its other rival, the Liverpool Reds trained by Jürgen Klopp.

During this golden period in the Premier League, City broke several records: in 2017-2018, the club won 100 points in the league, 19 more than its first pursuer, and scored 106 goals in 38 games.

The following year, the Citizens took 98 points in the Premier League and achieved the league title – League Cup – FA Cup treble.

Sovereign on the national scene, City has yet failed to win the Champions League until this year. The club was eliminated three times in a row in the quarter-finals from 2018 to 2020 and couldn't do anything against Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the 2022 edition.

In 2021, the last step seemed very close, however, since the Sky Blues had finally qualified for the final. In an English face-off against Chelsea – freshly taken over by Thomas Tuchel – Pep Guardiola's men stumbled against an opponent less flashy on paper but more experienced at this stage of the competition.

With a partly renewed workforce (Rodri, Jack Grealish and above all the Norwegian “cyborg” Erling Haaland), the club went to a new level this year.

24 years after rival Manchester United in 1999, City won a historic Champions League – Premier League – Cup treble. A season to mark with a white stone!

What happens next? With key players such as de Bruyne looking a little past their peak, and Bernardo Silva looking elsewhere, will the Citizens be able to defend their European title and maintain their hegemony on English soil? See you next season to find out!