Manchester City-Inter is the final of the 2022-23 Champions League and is played on Saturday at 9pm: free-to-air TV, likely line-ups, predictions.
Dream and obsession. It was Nerazzurri outside forward Federico Dimarco in the press conference who dusted off the old adage uttered by José Mourinho a few days before the 2010 Champions League final, the last one played (and won) by Inter. An expression that has since become iconic and is probably even more relevant today than it was thirteen years ago.
For the Nerazzurri, if we analyse their season as a whole, this Turkish trip almost sounds like a ‘prize trip’, totally unexpected, arrived thanks to a finale that lived up to expectations. That, in part, ended up overshadowing a year characterised by numerous missteps, especially in the championship, where Inter exited very early from the Scudetto fight and cashed in a good 12 defeats. The cup represents a dream, then. An epic feat against the team that is currently the strongest and plays the best football in the world. It follows that the pressure will be all on the shoulders of Manchester City, who will play the uncomfortable role of the big favourite on the night in Istanbul. The Champions League as a wonderful obsession, pursued for almost a decade now. Since Sheikh Mansour, who took over the club in 2009, has invested billions upon billions with the aim of dominating both in England and Europe.
City are at it again, two years later
The Citizens’ last and only international trophy (Cup Winners’ Cup) dates back to 1970, and before the advent of new Emirates ownership they were not even comparable to the reality they have become today. Thanks to pharaonic buying campaigns, of course, but also to a cutting-edge and revolutionary coach like Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola
Since the former Barcelona coach arrived in England in 2016, Manchester City have racked up a number of domestic titles, while missing the main target, the cup with the big ears, which has always eluded them at the finest hour. Two years ago in Porto, in the only final played by City, everything seemed set for the triumph of De Bruyne and his teammates, but instead the English derby was won by Chelsea (1-0) thanks to a goal by Havertz. Something similar happened last year, in the return semi-final against Real Madrid, with Guardiola’s men being overturned in the final minutes after they had already tasted victory. This seems to be the year instead. City is ripe to win a trophy of this magnitude. It has an extra Haaland in the engine, a monstrous striker with 36 Premier League goals, who in his first year in Manchester shattered every possible record. The Norwegian as the icing on the cake, the cog that was missing to make the extraordinary ‘machine’ set up by Guardiola more perfect.
Guardiola and his ‘perfect machine’
It is also thanks to him that the Citizens were able to win their third Premier League in a row after an epic comeback over Arsenal, who were beaten in a sprint. And now they are one step away from the mythological Treble (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League), a feat only achieved so far by an English team: the hated cousins Manchester United.
Haaland
But it was in the Champions League that Manchester City showed their best stuff. They literally dominated their group (4 wins and 2 draws), while in the knockout phase, after eliminating the insidious Leipzig, they imposed themselves on two other battleships such as Bayern Munich and reigning European champions Real Madrid, in what was a rematch of last year’s edition. The common denominator? The home victories: on the road Manchester City always drew 1-1, but at home they were nothing short of overwhelming. Seven goals to Leipzig, three to Bayern, four to Real, without conceding any. Guardiola, who has not lifted the Champions League since 2011 when he was at the helm of Barcelona, has not failed to live up to expectations. From February onwards, thanks to some tactical adjustments – Stones has become a hybrid between central defender and half-back – his City has turned into a steamroller. And now he really is just a handful of inches from the finish line.
The Prediction
There is no official precedent between the two teams, who are facing each other for the first time. Needless to say, who is the favourite. According to the bookmakers, only the Citizens can miss this final: an Inter success, in fact, would be sensational and is paid on average over six times the stake. To think of somehow stopping Guardiola’s firepower, starting with the unleashed Haaland, is pure utopia. It is no coincidence that Manchester City has never lost in this competition this year. And that, above all, they have scored at least one goal in their last 32 matches. Inter will have to be perfect in the non-possession phase, avoiding conceding goals in the first minutes. And take advantage of those few spaces that, inevitably, the English champions will leave when counter-pressing, attacking the ball carrier en masse.
The two forwards, Dzeko and Lautaro (or Lukaku) can annoy the English defence. In the eight matches in which City have faced teams playing with a double striker, they have only kept their goal unbroken on two occasions. That is why we believe Inter can score at least one goal in a match with a total of at least three goals.
Manchester City v Inter matchday squad
- MANCHESTER CITY (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Ruben Dias, Akanji; Stones, Rodri; Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish; Haaland.
- INTER (3-5-2): Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Dimarco; Lautaro Martinez, Dzeko.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1