On a centre back from Bernardo Silva, the Spaniard armed a powerful and worked strike that deceived Andre Onana, Inter's Cameroonian goalkeeper (68), freeing his team who were trampling in front of the inner dikes.

Rodri, Pep Guardiola's irremovable starter this season (52 times), took a little personal revenge with this goal.

In 2021 in Porto, his coach had left him on the bench to put Ilkay Gundogan in his position of N.6, an experience that had not worked very well, and the Sky Blues had lost against Chelsea (1-0), on a pass from Mason Mount to Kai Avertz that Rodri was not there to intercept.

The Spanish international (41 caps, one goal) already had some personal accounts to settle in the semifinals against Real Madrid (1-1, 4-0), a year after failing in the last seconds at the same stage of the competition against the "White House" (4-3, 1-3).

"Football gives us an opportunity to take revenge," Rodri said before the first leg, speaking of "not giving them anything and killing them when (they) could."

"We are not here to take revenge," said Guardiola, who insisted on recruiting "one of the best" midfielders in the world in 2019 at Atlético Madrid, his club paying 70 million euros.

"Smart ball to foot"

"Rodri is going to become an incredible transfer for us. He has no tattoos, no necklaces... This is the very principle of the defensive midfielder. A defensive midfielder has to be like that. He must first think of others," praised the Catalan.

Rodri in Istanbul on June 10, 2023 © FRANCK FIFE / AFP

"There are no words to describe his impact, with or without the ball, and how smart Rodri is with the ball at his feet. He attacks the space when he sees it," Guardiola said after a game against Crystal Palace.

The player, who took the role assigned in his previous teams to Sergi Busquets, Barça, or Xabi Alonso, Bayern, has returned his confidence by offering his coach the Champions League after which he had been running since 2011 and his second success with FC Barcelona.

Elected man of the final by UEFA, Rodri had already scored a goal in the same genre, of a curved trajectory, in the quarter-finals first leg against Bayern Munich (3-0). Bernardo Silva had already found him in the background in this area, on the edge of the box.

After the final of "Cup" victorious against Manchester United (2-1), Rodri had already announced the color. "I feel at the top of my game, physically, mentally, in the way I understand the game.

He himself put the finishing touches to the fabulous Championship-Cup-C1 treble that City dreamed of. "I tried to grow and learn. This is my fourth year and I have learned a lot. I feel more mature. But you have to win. It's not just about playing well, it's also about being part of a winning team," he said.

Rodri and Pep Guardiola on June 10, 2023 in Istanbul © Paul ELLIS / AFP

"Pep said we wouldn't be +big, big+ if we didn't win in Europe. This is the exam we have to retake," said the scorer of the final before the match. Exam passed for Rodri.

© 2023 AFP