A mixed zone on the night of a Champions League final is always a chaotic scene. A cacophony of languages ricochets around the bowels of the Ataturk Stadium and reporters from around the world get elbows out to jostle for position, with those working for TV and radio desperately thrusting microphones in the direction of anyone who will stop.
UEFA have set up pens for players to come and speak and several Manchester City players take up station in front of groups of media. In a corner near the exit close to the blue-liveried team bus, another huddle of reporters from UK papers are trying to stop the victors.
It's around 2.15am when Rico Lewis comes over to briefly reflect on his journey this season. We're a couple of questions in when the hum of interviews being conducted is replaced by the din of celebrations.
'Can you hear me calling, out your name?' drifts into the mixed zone as the doors from the dressing room area swing open. Now nobody can hear any of the interviews being conducted in various parts of this huge, underground room.
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'Awooo, I wanna be with you everywhere' blasts out as Jack Grealish walks past us. Grealish is one of the most colourful talkers in the City squad but rarely stops. Tonight, he still has his shirt on, is wearing sunglasses in a windowless room two hours after midnight and carries a ghetto blaster on his shoulder. Fleetwood Mac's 'Everywhere', adopted by City fans as a terrace anthem this season, is blasting out and Grealish is off to get the party started. Lewis quickly follows, ending his chat before it had even started. It's that kind of night.
Manuel Akanji, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri all take up station behind a Champions League-branded desk and speak to reporters. City persuade Erling Haaland to do the same, but for once he is playing second fiddle. Rodri is talking and Haaland, hair now untied and swept back, isn't going to wait around. The Norwegian decides he has better use of his time and lackadaisically wanders towards the bus.
Those of us near the exit try our luck with the rest of the squad. Akanji says John Stones played like Diego Maradona and he looked like the best midfielder on the pitch in a Champions League final. We plead for a couple of minutes to talk about his reinvention and the night of his career.
Stones considers it and at one stage looks close to giving in. But he is clutching a can of Heineken and it's the first alcohol to pass his lips in 11 months. That is more important than filling the English newspapers so he's off to celebrate. A spell of abstinence during the season is being deservedly broken in style.
City's backroom staff had started filing towards the bus just before 2am, around two hours after the final whistle. Some of them carried buckets full of cans of Heineken. The players had been on the pitch for almost an hour after the trophy presentation, spending time with family in a stadium that will live with them forever.
Once they had returned to the dressing room the celebrations continued, including kit man Brandon Ashton's now famous belly slide across a hard floor soaked with booze. As Ashton delivers kit to the bus he is told his celebration has already reached social media, courtesy of Pep Guardiola's right-hand man, Manel Estiarte.
So far has Ashton's fame spread that he is convinced to sign a shirt for a Turkish journalist, who is star-struck in the mixed zone rather than looking for any actual quotes.
Soon after City's director of football, Txiki Begiristain, walks through, one hand clutching a piece of silverware weighing 7.5kgs that has become an obsession for this football club. The European Cup will be going back with them.
The party back at the Marriott Hotel goes on until the small hours, with some staff members still up at 7am on an unforgettable night. For supporters, even the arduous 35km journey back from the Ataturk Stadium can't take the shine off the night.
Some of the shuttle buses take nearly two hours to get fans back to the Champions League fan zone at Yenikapi. From there, it is a taxi back to Nevizade Street, a small alleyway packed with bars that had become a focal point for City fans in Istanbul.
Those who hung around at the stadium have to haggle with taxi drivers who are in full rip-off mode. One asks for €280 for a fare that cost this correspondent £13 on Friday.
On Nevizade Street there is a mixture of City fans celebrating and others just quietly drinking it in and soaking it up. One bar threatens to close at 4am, only for the owner to stand on a table 10 minutes before that time, let off a flare and announce he will push it back to 5am. A cheer erupts and the party continues.
The Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League is the ultimate footballing achievement and you can get your hands on the only official souvenir publication of Manchester City's history-making 2022-23 season, packed with amazing pictures, match reports and reaction. Get your copy here.
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