Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour WILL attend the Champions League final in Istanbul for his first appearance in a match in 13 YEARS
- Manchester City will face Inter Milan in the Champions League final tonight
- Club owner Sheikh Mansour will attend a game for the first time in 13 years
- Since buying City in 2008, Mansour has been present at one competitive game
Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour will attend tonight’s Champions League final in Istanbul, his first game appearance in nearly 13 years.
Mansour, the vice president of the United Arab Emirates, is said to have flown to Turkey to watch the club compete for their first trophy in the competition.
Since buying City in 2008, Mansour has appeared in just one league game, a Premier League home win against Liverpool in August 2010.
He also attended two exhibition matches in Abu Dhabi.
However, he has now flown on a private jet in a bid to witness history, with City one win away from a historic Treble this season.
Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour (centre) will attend the Champions League final
Since buying the club in 2008, Mansour has only made one appearance
Pep Guardiola’s side will try to beat Inter Milan tonight and seal a historic Treble in Istanbul
If City beat Inter Milan to become king of Europe for the first time, they will become only the second English club – after Manchester United in 1999 – to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season.
Mansour will attend the match with City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and will be able to meet manager Pep Guardiola and his players after the final whistle.
City have become a dominant force domestically since Mansour’s investment vehicle, the Abu Dhabi United Group, took control of the Etihad Stadium.
Under his leadership, the club has remarkably won seven Premier League titles in the past 12 years, including five of the last six.
Mansour will be able to see Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland play live for the first time tonight at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
Through its investment, City has also built a new training venue and expanded the Etihad.
Mansour watched City beat Liverpool in the stands of the Etihad in August 2010 (above)
Guardiola has admitted reaching the Treble would be a “dream” for his heavyweight side
Guardiola has made it no secret that winning the Treble would be a ‘dream’.
“It’s definitely a dream. Absolutely,” he said in the run-up to the confrontation.
‘To achieve things you always have to have the right amount of obsession, desire. Obsession is a positive word. It’s a dream for all of us.’
Kyle Walker, meanwhile, believes City’s squad owes it to the owners to win the Champions League because of the huge sum they’ve pumped into the club.
“The club is missing that one trophy,” he said. “The owners, with the amount of money they’ve pumped into this club and the investment, we owe them that.”