The first Champions League finalist had to be determined in very unusual weather conditions for the final stages of this tournament. The lawn at the Etihad stadium, where Paris Saint-Germain came to visit Manchester City, was covered with a thin layer of snow before the return semi-final. This phenomenon, unusual for the beginning of May, could not interfere with the meeting, but it created certain problems - the markings on the field had to be cleared, and the players had to carefully monitor the ball, which merged with the white-green background.
PSG this season has already faced similar vagaries of the weather.
In the Champions League quarterfinals, Mauricio Pochettino's charges have already beaten Bayern Munich after a heavy snowfall.
True, then Kylian Mbappe was in the ranks, and it was his double that allowed him to beat the current winners of the tournament.
The Frenchman did not participate in the confrontation with Manchester City.
After the first match, which ended in the Parisians' defeat with a score of 1: 2, Mbappé was knocked out with another injury and missed the game with Lance in Ligue 1. He still came with his teammates to Manchester, where they had to score at least two goals , but did not make it to the starting line-up.
Given how badly PSG needed goals, Pochettino couldn't just afford to keep the team's top scorer in reserve.
Given the situation the opponent was in, Guardiola's choice of squad looked like a mockery. He did not release any of the clean strikers, leaving only right midfielder Riyad Marez at the forefront of the attack, although he had Ferran Torres, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus to choose from. City had no need to sharpen the game and step on other people's gates - the chances of missing their first-ever Champions League final for the British were not so many.
However, the Manchester players entered the field not as calm as they could have been. Less than two minutes later, the game had to be interrupted several times due to fouls by the hosts. Violations were fully justified, as with the starting whistle, the Parisians began to create pressure on other people's gates. On the seventh minute it practically turned into a penalty kick - after Neymar hit the ball, the ball hit Oleksandr Zinchenko's shoulder. The arbiter at first considered that there was a handball, but the video replay dissuaded him.
The canceled standard had an extremely detrimental effect on the guests. Their pressure immediately disappeared, and the next usual throw of Ederson suddenly turned into a scoring attack. Zinchenko took a running start from the middle of the field, connected Kevin De Bruyne, and he found Marez on the right, ahead of all PSG defenders. “Manchester City” opened the scoring already in the 11th minute and put the rivals in an even more unenviable position - now two goals for reaching the final might not have been enough for them.
The French were in no hurry to surrender, and even before the middle of the half, Marquinhos and Angel Di Maria were able to break through on the goal of the British.
But both times Ederson was rescued by the gate frame.
PSG's net forwards were far less useful.
If Neymar still took part in the game, but constantly faced the built defense of City, then Mauro Icardi was completely invisible - in the first 45 minutes he touched the ball less times than even the goalkeepers.
The guests finished the first half in their favor in terms of strikes, but not goals.
During the break, the snow melted almost over the entire field, but the rain intensified and became torrential.
The owners of the field liked this weather, and they started the second half quite actively.
Phil Foden was especially trying to excel - the City pupil either beat from an offside position, then hit directly into Keylor Navas.
When more than an hour had passed since the start of the game, Pochettino began to renew the roster without touching Mbappe.
Only with the replacements, the Argentine specialist was clearly late.
Immediately after them, De Bruyne passed the ball to Foden, and the Englishman shot to the right flank, where Marez was again in front of an empty goal.
The Algerian scored a double, and taking into account the previous match, he scored the third goal against PSG.
But the intrigue in the semifinals was destroyed not by him, but by the guests themselves.
Di Maria hit Fernandinho out of bounds and was immediately sent off.
The guests were again in the minority, only now they had to finish the game with ten men for almost half a time.
Foden and Marez tried to bring the score to a devastating one, but Navas did not allow them to do this.
Manchester City won their seventh Champions League win in a row and made their way to the final for the first time in their history. So far, the British have only one European trophy - the Cup Winners' Cup, won back in 1970. The opponents for the Guardiola team will be determined on May 5 in the confrontation between Chelsea and Real Madrid, who drew in the first semi-final.