Kick-off: 2000, 10/06/2023
Stadium: Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul
TV: BT Sport
The missing piece in the Manchester City jigsaw can be added when Pep Guardiola’s team face Inter Milan in the 2023 Champions League final in Istanbul.
City have been the dominant force in English football for the last decade and have won the Premier League and FA Cup double this season but they are yet to conquer Europe, with this being only their second appearance in the final.
They lost to Chelsea two years ago but look even stronger now and are fancied to win by more than one goal at 23/20 as our opening Man City vs Inter Milan prediction.
Free-scoring City hard to oppose
Winning the Champions League has seemed only a matter of time for City during the reign of Guardiola and they are firm favourites to end the wait in Turkey.
While winning the Premier League has become the norm since Sheikh Mansour bought the club in 2008, they have suffered years of near misses in their quest to land European club football’s top prize.
They started this season’s tournament as the outright favourites and have justified that status, firstly by winning their group with an unbeaten record and just two goals conceded compared to 14 scored.
Emphatic victories over RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium – with draws in all three away legs – saw them cruise through the knockout stage and now they are looking to make amends for the 2021 defeat to Chelsea.
Bernardo Silva bagged a first-half brace in the 4-0 win at home to Real Madrid, which was one of the greatest performances in the club’s history, and is one of the players motivated by their previous disappointment.
“The final of the Champions League is always an unbelievable occasion,” he said. “I’ve only played it once and the outcome wasn’t very happy for me. Let’s try and change that.
“We know that we play against a very tough team. I watched their game (semi-final) and they are very organised collectively.
“We’re going to study them, follow the manager’s plan once again and try to, individually and collectively, put out the best possible performance, like this one, to be as close as possible to winning that game.”
The way City overpowered Real Madrid in the second leg made Guardiola’s team look unstoppable at their best and the result was achieved despite star striker Erling Haaland failing to get on the scoresheet, with Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois preventing an even bigger margin of victory.
City took the lead in the 27th minute against Madrid, just as they had in the first leg against Bayern, while they took control against Leipzig with Haaland goals after 22 and 24 minutes.
There may be some early nerves here given the occasion but looking at the Man City vs Inter Milan odds, we like 12/5 for City to find the net between 15 and 30 minutes again.
City’s last Champions League line-up: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Akanji, Stones, Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne, Haaland, Grealish, Silva.
Defence the main hope for inconsistent Inter
Inter are bidding to become the first Italian winners of the Champions League since 2010 when a team managed by Jose Mourinho beat Bayern Munich 2-0.
They are the 16/5 underdogs to lift the trophy but their progress to the final has shown they deserve respect, even if they have not produced City’s fireworks.
Their run to the final owes a lot to a solid defence which has kept a tournament-high eight clean sheets in their 12 matches, including five from six in the knockout stages, with goalkeeper Andre Onana a star performer.
Qualifying from a group which also contained Bayern and Barcelona was an impressive achievement but losing 2-0 in both meetings with the German giants highlighted their limitations.
Inter have trailed champions Napoli by a considerable distance in Serie A this season and since lifting the trophy in 2010, they have only progressed beyond the group stage four times so they have limited experience of the big occasions.
While any team reaching a Champions League final deserves respect, it is difficult to make a case for the Nerazzurri causing an upset.
City to win both halves at 23/10 is added to our Man City vs Inter Milan betting tips, while a 3-0 victory is 35/4 for punters who like to back the correct score.
Inter’s last Champions League line-up: Onana, Acerbi, Darmian, Bastoni, Dumfries, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Barella, Dimarco, Dzeko, Martinez.
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