Whoever wins tonight already has the benefit of knowing who they’ll be facing – Manchester City and Pep Guardiola.
The Spaniard, a Champions League winner with Barcelona, was brought to England from Bayern Munich with the express aim to win the biggest prize in Europe, one which had eluded the club’s owners ever since they pumped the Etihad Stadium full of cash and transformed their fortunes.
It is a shame that so much focus has been given to the near-culmination of their ambitions and the resumption of Guardiola as the continent’s greatest manager over the squad that has made history to get them there.
It is their talent that deserves the recognition and hopefully they will receive their dues, regardless of the result in Istanbul, as much as everyone else.