Rain on Man City parade can’t dampen mood in Manchester as the city celebrates it’s treble heroes

Unconventionally, the Manchester City players took the tram to the bus. Well, three open-top buses. And there were three more with roofs nearby, because the thunderstorms heading towards us seemed particularly nasty.

City have been tearing through the traditional elite like a tornado for the past 15 years and once they reached the Treble summit a different kind of storm threatened to blow them over as they surveyed the trodden path. Luckily that didn’t happen.

But first the tram. A tube ride from Velopark to Deansgate isn’t exactly a glamorous route – especially after a few beers and an Ibiza hangover. It passed New Islington, Piccadilly and around the back of the final main stage in St Peter’s Square. A pageant for the pageant.

Here was a group of young boys dancing and banging on the windows on their way to an event and in this part of the world that is nothing new. Every certain Saturday. Ruben Dias, the father of the group, had to send a straggler to the right coach. No prizes for guessing who that might be. Again, any Saturday.

Pep Guardiola and his squad, backroom staff and executives had held their civic reception with the deputy leader of the City Football Academy council, as Manchester does not currently have a functioning town hall. Chief executive Ferran Soriano said a few words.

And to the weather. Only here, where it was miserable for two thirds of the year, could it somehow get too hot for a parade, a scorching gale that turned into treacherous storms that seemed very out of place in the Northwest.

The streetcar system was in a state all day, the rising temperatures caused cabling chaos and the area was shut down for a while. And yet thousands showed up, the start delayed half an hour after City held talks with local authorities and the Met office. A fair estimate would be that 100,000 lined these streets.

Wet – very wet – and frenzied. Jack Grealish turned to Erling Haaland, “How are we?” Presumably he expected “big” to come as an answer. Haaland threw a bottle of champagne over his head instead.

The hair was already spoiled anyway. The tops came off quickly. Drenched supporters were doused with booze. Guardiola puffed on a cigar. We’ve seen this movie before, but never while enjoying something on this scale.

In Oxford Street, where the fans were packed, it seemed like a bloodbath with flashes of lightning and thunder. The weather does weird things to people and some broke barriers and caused mayhem on a day City handed over security measures to an independent company.

Everything was kept under control. “I’ve had the best day and night for the past 24 hours,” said Grealish. ‘To be honest, I don’t think I slept. I’m a turkey and the turkey needs to be fed!’

And so Kalvin Phillips fed him vodka. Everyone cheered.

Even without Saturday in Istanbul, even without beating their rivals at Wembley and even without threateningly clawing back Arsenal, this would have been a day to remember in this special city. Hanging from lampposts, bringing bus stops almost to their knees, leaning out of windows, a pocket of Manchester felt alive.

Draped over the side of their bus, Haaland happily showed off Ol’ Big Ears. Grealish begged Bernardo Silva to stay on the tram as Paris Saint-Germain lay in wait. Captain Ilkay Gundogan wandered out, all smiles clutching the biggest pot of the bunch, “We won everything!”

“The past few weeks have been incredible,” said Secretary of the Official Supporters Club, Kevin Parker. ‘I have a dog called Sergio and because he’s so busy, some friends have been looking after him for three weeks. We won three trophies in that time! He’s coming back to a completely different person!’

Parker wore the 1999 yellow and blue away shirt – the iconic, Division Two playoff shirt, the Paul Dickov shirt. “I’m superstitious and don’t normally wear shirts,” he added.

‘I decided to buy one for Istanbul. I went to the club shop and this was the first one I saw. Of course United won the Treble in 1999 and something struck me that this is the right shirt for this time.

“We are positive about the [Premier League] cost. I speak to the club and they are confident they have done nothing wrong. Of course we look through blue tinted glasses but I hope that is the outcome.

‘[But] whatever the outcome, you can’t take away the titles, the performances, the Agüero moment, Yaya Toure at Wembley in 2011, the 6-1 at Old Trafford. You can’t take that away from supporters.’

Nor the players, who thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The majority made a U-turn at Manchester Airport on Sunday afternoon, from one private jet to another, and headed for Ibiza.

Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Stefan Ortega are all too old and too smart for that, and go to eat at Chinese restaurant Tattu instead. A little quieter.

Ibiza ended up being a journey of less than 18 hours and when City finished thanking their fans here, they were taken to a party for all staff at Depot Mayfield, the scene of their Saturday showing. Guardiola will have danced there, after calling out Noel Gallagher for missing the opportunity and predicting that Oasis will reform.

“I think the job is done,” Guardiola had said earlier in the day. “I don’t want to compare myself to Leo so much [Messi] but there’s a picture of him with the World Cup saying ‘that’s it, that’s it’. And in this club I know it’s there now.’ A fitting ending to begin with.