"It was a day of many emotions for everybody," said the City boss. "Obviously, the biggest emotion was for the memories of Marc-Vivien Foe and the minute's silence.
"It was very emotional for the people who knew him and even for those who didn't because of what they had heard about him and how he had been portrayed.
"For Ali, I don't think we would be in the Premiership if he hadn't have walked in to this club two years ago, ao it was a lovely farewell for him. I thought the crowd gave him a great reception.
"Shaun Goater got a chance to say another goodbye - a final one this time - and I know he enjoyed it because he came and told me.
"We then played one of the best teams in the world and I thought it was a really good workout for us, as it was for them. So a lot has been achieved.
"There certainly looked more than 36,000 out there today, but I think this stadium will be the making of this Football Club.
"We are the luckiest team in the world to have a place like this and we've got to make that work for us as we did today."