Rodri has fired a warning to the rest of Europe after telling Manchester City’s Champions League rivals that their first European crown is just the start.
The Spaniard was the match-winner in the Ataturk Stadium, cooly slotting in the only goal of the game against Inter Milan, and as City survived a late barrage from the Serie A side by hook or by crook, he began to feel it was written in the stars that this would finally be their year.
City have found it difficult to conquer Europe and since arriving at the Etihad, Rodri has experienced a defeat in the final against Chelsea two years ago, last season’s incredible collapse from a winning position against Real Madrid in the semi-final and a meek surrender against Lyon in 2020.
But in Istanbul City rode their luck to finally lift their trophy and with the monkey now off their back, Rodri believes they could go on to dominate Europe in the same way as they have the Premier League.
"For me, and I said this before the game, it was so important to win against Inter because we can build a legacy for the future," said the 26-year-old.
"We can trust in ourselves that we did it and this is what teams like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, AC Milan - these kind of clubs - did in the past. So yes we believe we can do it again. I think that’s why it’s so important."
City have suffered their fair share of heartbreak in the Champions League and as well as those defeats to Lyon, Chelsea and Real Madrid, there have been agonising and often chaotic exits to Monaco, Liverpool and Tottenham under Pep Guardiola.
It has taken until the Catalan’s seventh season for City to win the trophy they prized above all others, but Rodri was quick to praise those players who had come before him and didn’t manage to win the Champions League.
"I said when I finished the game I don’t want to forget players like Fernandinho, Sergio, David Silva, Kompany - many players who had been working eight, nine, 10 years at this club to help it arrive at this level, he said.
"We take the fruits [of their labour] and this victory is for all of them. I said to Khaldoon, ‘This is the work of 10, 15 years behind us’. I’m inside the club and I know how big this chairman is."
Rodri might be a relative newcomer to City’s story under Guardiola, but he’s seen and heard enough to be able to declare that the Champions League has "not been fair to us."
The exit at the Bernabeu last season when Real scored twice in injury time to rescue a tie that looked lost summed that up and Rodri said putting that right was a "massive" motivation this season.
If that counted as a misfortune for City, then they were grateful for some luck they were overdue in the Ataturk. Federico Dimarco looped a header onto the bar and saw Romelu Lukaku inadvertently block his goalbound follow-up effort.
With two minutes to go Lukaku sent a header from six yards out straight at Ederson and Ruben Dias' clearing header went inches wide of the post. It all added up to a sense of destiny.
"Yes I think when you see the last two chances they had - saving with the knee, Ruben, Edey, near to the post. Sometimes you think ‘this is the year’," said Rodri.
"We didn’t create many chances. We have one and we score, even though Phil has another one after we’d already scored. So sometimes yes - I believe in God and when you work hard he normally gives you [something] back."
Rodri was a fitting hero for City, having performed so admirably all season, even if Saturday wasn't his best night in terms of overall performance.
"I think it was the only time I went forward in the game because Inter was so narrow I wanted to make sure the two strikers weren’t comfortable," he said of his goal.
"In that moment I just saw the space. In the first moment I thought about shooting strong but then I realised there were like six or seven players in the goal area and I was like, no, I’m going to put it in the first post. The end result was incredible but there was half an hour still to go so it was a big effort from all of us."
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