Manchester City F.C. in international football

[6] However, to the frustration of the home crowd City were denied by a strong defensive performance by Fenerbahçe, most notably by goalkeeper Yavuz Şimşek, and the match finished 0–0.

[13] The first leg of the quarter-finals, at Académica de Coimbra, took place three days before Manchester City were due to play in the League Cup final.

Malcolm Allison rejected the prevailing British football orthodoxy, in which domestic competitions took priority, by saying he would rather win in Portugal than in the League Cup final.

[15] In the final, they faced Górnik Zabrze of Poland, who had progressed via a coin toss after three matches with A.S. Roma could not produce a winner in the other semi-final.

[22] The Blues played on with ten men for a period as Doyle received treatment from trainer Dave Ewing, but the defender was unable to continue.

[36] The large lead meant that despite a 2–0 defeat in Liège, in which Gary Owen received a red card, City progressed with ease.

[39] City took a 2–0 lead and came close to becoming the first English team to beat Milan at the San Siro, but conceded twice; the equaliser scored eight minutes from time.

As the UEFA coefficient that determines the number of places per country is based upon performances in European competition over the previous five years, England had a reduced allocation until 1995.

City topped the group, after wins against Twente and Schalke, a draw with Paris Saint-Germain and a defeat in a dead rubber in Santander.

The Italians took the lead in the second half following a counter-attacking move, but five minutes later Aleksandar Kolarov scored from a free-kick to equalise, and the match finished 1–1.

[70] City then lost 2–0 at Bayern Munich, a match most notable for the refusal of Carlos Tevez to come on as substitute,[71] which resulted in an exile from the first team lasting nearly six months.

The 2013–14 UEFA Champions League campaign was a watershed moment for the team, as they won five games in the group stage and qualified for the knockout phase for the first time since 1968.

The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League campaign went on to become the most successful in history for City as they reached the semi-finals before being eliminated by Real Madrid after drawing the home game and losing at the Santiago Bernabéu 0–1.

The outcome of those games was an utter devastation as Manchester City were thrashed 5–1 on aggregate and eliminated amid the controversy with refereeing mistakes favourable to Liverpool.

They did exactly that, leading 4–2 twenty minutes before the end of the game, but Fernando Llorente's wrongly awarded handball meant that City were again required to score.

Acknowledging that City would be judged by their Champions League performance after all,[79] Pep Guardiola stated that the new season's main objective would be to win the European title.

[83][84] In the semi-finals, Manchester City were drawn against reigning finalists Paris Saint-Germain who'd avenged their loss to Bayern Munich in the 2020 final by knocking out the German club in their quarter-final tie on away goals.

[85] In the second leg, a goal in either half from Mahrez booked City's place in their first-ever European Cup final, which happened to be an all-English affair against Chelsea, with a stylish 4–1 aggregate victory.

[86] The final took place at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal, and the Citizens were defeated 1–0 by a lone goal scored by Kai Havertz in an anticlimactic game.

[88] In the round of 16 they earnt a commanding first leg lead in their tie against Sporting Lisbon, beating the Portuguese champions 5–0 away including a brace from Bernardo Silva.

Leading the second leg 1–0 (5–3 on aggregate), from a 75th-minute goal from Riyad Mahrez, and approaching the last minute of normal time, it appeared City were heading comfortably to the final, where they would have met Liverpool.

Copenhagen of the Danish Superliga undefeated, with four wins and two draws, the Blues were drawn up against RB Leipzig in the round of 16 for the third and fourth fixtures between the sides in their histories.

The draw would not matter as City eviscerated the German side 7–0 in the second leg, with a record-equalling five goals from Erling Haaland, and one each from new captain İlkay Gündoğan and from Kevin De Bruyne.

The following week, they drew 1–1 at the Allianz Arena, with another goal from Haaland confirming City's semi-finals spot 4–1 on aggregate to face Real Madrid there for the second consecutive season.

The first leg was played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, and Vinícius Júnior gave Madrid a 1–0 lead at half time with a stunning goal.

However, City's reliable talisman Kevin De Bruyne salvaged the Blues a 1–1 draw at a stadium that saw their Champions League campaign collapse a year ago.

[93] On 10 June 2023, at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in front of 71,412 supporters, a second-half goal from Rodri saw Manchester City win the Champions League final against Inter Milan, completing a historic continental treble, only the second in English men's football history.

In doing so, City completed a task of winning the UEFA Champions League set out 15 years ago in 2008 when the club was purchased by the Abu Dhabi United Group.

In the 36th minute, De Bruyne was substituted due to injury for the second time in a Champions League final, after going off in City's 2021 defeat to Chelsea.

After missing out on a UEFA berth for 1971–72, Manchester City were invited to play in the Texaco Cup, a competition for English, Scottish and Irish teams.