The victory helped them to complete the treble on a Saturday evening of frayed nerves.

Spanish midfielder Rodri’s 68th-minute goal settled a cagey game which a far-from-fluent Manchester City dominated.

This was without them ever looking comfortable against the three-times winners from Italy at the Ataturk Stadium.

Inter Milan almost levelled at the death when a point-blank header by substitute Romelu Lukaku was saved by Ederson.

But Manchester City, who lost in the final match two years ago against Chelsea, would not be denied.

“Emotional. A dream come true. All these guys around here waited I don’t know how many years. They deserve, we deserve,” Rodri said.

In being crowned champions of Europe, they matched the treble achieved by Manchester United in 1999 of lifting the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League crowns.

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has now won the UEFA Champions League three times and took his trophy count with the club to 12.

It was far from a fluent Manchester City performance, however, against a tireless Inter Milan side who looked capable of causing a shock.

Manchester City were stifled in the first half and their fans were reduced to near silence at times as the nerves became frayed.

With Kevin de Bruyne off injured, Manchester City struggled to create chances and were wobbly at the back.

But in the end the ever-reliable Rodri came to the rescue.

For once Inter Milan could not close down the spaces and Bernardo Silva’s cutback was swept home by the Spaniard.

Even then, Manchester City were forced to go to the wire at the end of a long season with Lautaro Martinez hitting the bar for Inter Milan.

Lukaku was also denied by a superb Ederson save at the death.

Guardiola has now finally guided Manchester City to the European crown they so cherished after a few gut-wrenching near misses since Sheikh Mansour bought the club in 2008.

He became the first manager to achieve two trebles in European football, having done the Spanish equivalent with FC Barcelona in 2009.

He has won 12 trophies with Manchester City since taking charge in 2016.

Now, with the UEFA Champions League jinx broken, any sense of inferiority Manchester City may have suffered to the established European royalty of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Liverpool has gone.

Manchester City still must defend themselves against more than 100 alleged breaches of English Premier League financial regulations dating back to 2009.

But that is for another day.

On Saturday alongside the Bosphorous, that was the last thing Manchester City’s joyous fans cared about.

They celebrated the club’s first European trophy since the now defunct European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1969/1970.

Guardiola’s side fluffed their lines in Porto two years ago when losing to Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League final — a defeat partially blamed on Guardiola’s tactics.

This time he and his players delivered, although it was far from straightforward against the wily Italian side.

Source: Reuters/NAN

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Germany international Sane superbly controlled a pinpoint Joshua Kimmich cross before rounding Inter keeper Andre Onana, who was making his debut for the club, to give Bayern the lead in the 25th minute.

Sane also deserved a lot of credit for their second goal.

READ ALSO: Super Cup: Mané scores as Bayern Munich beat RB Leipzig

This was after he dismantled the Inter defence with a lightning-quick double one-two with Kingsley Coman in the 66th minute before his shot was turned into the net by Inter Milan captain Danilo D’Ambrosio.

Bayern, who bounced back following two consecutive draws in the Bundesliga, host Barcelona next week.

While Inter Milan, who have now lost their last two matches following their derby loss to AC Milan on Saturday, take on Viktoria Plzen in the other group match.

Source: Reuters/NAN

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It was also their first major title since winning the Coppa Italia in 2011.

Inter Milan last claimed the Scudetto in the 2009/2010 season, when Jose Mourinho led the Italian giants to a historic treble.

AC Milan then topped Serie A the following year, before Juventus established an era of dominance by winning nine consecutive titles.

The Nerazzurri temporarily went 13 points clear on the table after a 2-0 victory over already-relegated Crotone on Saturday.

Antonio Conte’s side were expected to end the title drought with four games remaining once Atalanta failed to beat Sassuolo.

The 1-1 draw was then enough for Inter Milan to secure the championship.

“We are, yes, we are. Champions of Italy. We can finally scream it, after dreaming of it, after keeping it hidden in the depths of our hearts, after holding on to it like a precious dream that we did not want to waste.

“We wear this Scudetto. Beautiful, emphatic, deserved. Long-awaited and yearned for,” Inter Milan wrote on their website.

And the newly-crowned champions also warned the fans to “celebrate responsibly.”

While the Scudetto has been secured, the top-four race is still wide open as Juventus fight for a UEFA Champions League spot.

The Bianconeri were 1-0 down just 10 minutes into the game as Nahuel Molina gave Udinese an early lead.

But Juve started to push forward and it paid off in the last minutes.

Cristiano Ronaldo ended his goal drought with a penalty kick and a header, helping the Old Lady finish the comeback.

Atalanta, Juventus, and AC Milan rank second to fourth all with 69 points.

Fifth-placed Napoli with 67 points also have Champions League aspirations after a 1-1 draw with Cagliari on Sunday.

In Sunday’s other fixtures, Lazio edged Genoa 4-3, Sampdoria conquered Roma 2-0, and Bologna shared the spoils with Fiorentina 3-3.

Source: Xinhua/NAN

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The visitors travelled to Udine on a high after beating title rivals, Juventus, 2-0 last weekend.

However, they couldn’t break down the determined hosts, who became the first team to keep a clean sheet against Inter in Serie A this season.

Inter striker Lautaro Martinez came closest when his first half shot drew a spectacular one-handed save from Juan Musso.

The visitors’ frustration, however, showed when Conte was dismissed for dissent in stoppage time.

Conte’s side remain second on 41 points, two behind AC Milan at the halfway stage of the season, while Udinese are 14th on 18 points but without a win in nine games.

Source: Reuters/NAN

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Juventus are fifth with a game in hand and stayed seven points off the top, with AC Milan hoping to reclaim first place when they close Match Day 18 at Cagliari on Monday.

Inter Milan were one goal up at half time, thanks to a header from ex-Juve midfielder Arturo Vidal.

The former FC Barcelona player connected with Nicolo Barella’s cross on 12 minutes to net his first goal in the season.

The hosts also came close when Lautaro Martinez missed a tap in after Romelu Lukaku was denied by Wojciech Szczesny.

Juve lacked the speed to threaten the tight Nerazzurri defence and conceded again on 52 minutes, when Alessandro Bastoni sent Barella storming from the midfield to struck under the bar.

“[The goal] was important for me and for the team,” said Vidal, who won the first four in Juve’s record run of nine Scudetti.

“We won a difficult game against the strongest team in Italy.

“We showed that we are fit to battle for the title. Wins like these give you the confidence to continue on, but we have to keep working everyday,” he added.

The day’s opener saw Napoli pummel Fiorentina 6-0 to take third place as their inspired captain Lorenzo Insigne hit a brace and provided an assist.

The fast, diminutive Insigne struck clinically on five minutes and was unstoppable when he raced down the left flank to square for the third goal from Hirving Lozano.

Napoli’s other striker Andrea Petagna set up Insigne’s opener and also crossed for the second goal scored by Diego Demme.

Piotr Zielinski fired in off the left post to effectively wrap up matters by half time, and Insigne then converted a penalty kick before a late effort from substitute Matteo Politano.

“I am happy because as a Neapolitan it’s important to reach goals while wearing this shirt,” the Naples-born Insigne said.

“But I am happier still about the win because we played as a team with a great performance.

“We made some mistakes in previous games but the good thing is that every three days you have a chance to bounce back.”

Napoli have a game in hand against Juventus and sit six points behind AC Milan.

In Bergamo, Atalanta were held to a 0-0 draw against lowly visitors Genoa, staying sixth one point behind Juventus.

The Bergamaschi also have a game in hand.

Elsewhere, Sassuolo salvaged a 1-1 draw against second-last Parma, thanks to a stoppage time penalty kick.

Crotone stayed last in spite of beating Benevento 4-1 with a brace from Nigerian striker Simy.

Benevento had Marco Sau red-carded for his protests after the hosts’ fourth goal.

Fourth-placed Roma lost 3-0 to Lazio in Friday’s city derby.

On Saturday, Bologna beat Verona 1-0, Sampdoria prevailed 2-1 against Udinese as Torino and Spezia drew 0-0.

Source: dpa/NAN

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The win gave them a 3-2 home victory over Inter Milan in an absorbing Group B clash on Tuesday.

The result left Real Madrid, winners of a record 13 titles in Europe’s premier club competition, level on four points with Shakhtar Donetsk.

They are one point behind leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach and two ahead of bottom placed Inter Milan.

Real Madrid had thrown away a two-goal lead and were flirting with a defeat which would have piled more pressure on manager Zinedine Zidane.

Then, their Brazilian duo of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo combined to save the day.

Chances had gone begging at either end before Karim Benzema gave the home side a 25th minute lead.

He rounded goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and slotted home after intercepting a dreadful backpass by Real Madrid’s former wing-back Achraf Hakimi.

The hosts seemed to be cruising after 33 minutes when Sergio Ramos headed their second — his 100th goal for the club in all competitions.

But Lautaro Martinez pulled one back for Inter Milan two minutes later, thanks to a sublime assist by Nicolo Barella.

Real Madrid were rattled when Ivan Perisic equalised midway through the second half.

He threaded a shot into the far corner from close range after Martinez headed the ball into the Croatian’s stride.

Inter Milan then missed a pair of gilt-edged chances as Martinez shaved the outside of the post with a shot from the edge of the area and Perisic fired wide, with Real’s defence in tatters.

The Italians were punished for their misses, however.

Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, brought into the fray together by Zidane shortly before Inter Milan equaliser, carved out the winner from a lightning fast break.

Vinicius Junior raced clear of his marker down the left flank and squared the ball back to Rodrygo, who beat Handanovic with an unstoppable shot into the top corner from 10 metres.

Inter Milan are now under pressure halfway through the group stage and will hope to have striker Romelu Lukaku back for the reverse fixture on November 25.

That was after the Belgium striker missed the match with a thigh injury.

Source: Reuters/NAN

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The draw meant Inter Milan stuttered in their pursuit of leaders Juventus.

Second-placed Inter Milan, who had been gaining ground on Juve over the last 10 days, will see the result as two points lost.

They are five points behind the Turin side, who host Lazio on Monday.

After that, there are four matches each to play.

The penalty kick was given away in bizarre style by Leonardo Spinazzola when he missed his kick as he attempted to clear the ball.

It meant he made contact with Inter Milan forward Victor Moses instead.

Spinazzola had scored Roma’s first goal amid protests from Inter Milan who claimed Lautaro Martinez was fouled in the build-up.

“On the equaliser, there was a foul on Lautaro who was clipped on the heel,” said Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte.

His side however made mathematically sure of a UEFA Champions League place next season by snatching a share of the points with fifth-placed Roma.

“But I don’t blame the referees — there was a mistake here but they don’t deserve to be attacked for it.”

Inter Milan started with Lukaku on the bench, as the Belgian international had been struggling with fitness problems recently, and also dropped playmaker Christian Eriksen.

Roma dominated the early stages but Inter Milan snatched the lead with their first real attack.

Stefan de Vrij outjumped two defenders to head home from a corner kick in the 15th minute.

The hosts levelled on the stroke of half-time when Aleksandar Kolarov dispossessed Lautaro Martinez to spark a counter-attack, and Edin Dzeko found Spinazzola who scored with an angled drive.

Replays suggested that Kolarov may have fouled Martinez but the referee stood by his original decision.

Inter Milan often struggled to play their way out of defence and Roma went ahead in the 57th minute.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan burst forward and played the ball to Dzeko but it ricocheted off a defender and Dzeko was about to shoot when Mkhitaryan took it off his toe and scored.

Inter Milan were rescued by Spinazzola’s moment of misfortune and Lukaku sent Pau Lopez the wrong way to score his 21st league goal of the season.

After that, the visitors finally found some attacking spark, but they could not force a winner.

“It was a great performance,” said Roma coach Paulo Fonseca.

“Inter Milan weren’t creating any dangerous situations, they only scored from a set-piece and another unlucky incident. But that’s football.”

Source: Reuters/NAN

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