In this episode, Santiago Leon and Fransisco Flores preview the #UCLFinal between #ManCity and #InterMilan.
Contributors
Santiago Leon – @sleon
Francisco Flores – @franciscobcp
- This will be the first ever competitive meeting between these two sides. It will also be the first time since the 2005 final (Liverpool vs AC Milan) that the first competitive meeting between two sides is a Champions League final.
- Erling Haaland has scored 12 goals for Manchester City in the Champions League this season, the joint-most by a player for an English team in a single campaign.
- The Opta supercomputer makes City huge favourites, giving them a 74.1% chance of lifting the trophy, compared to 25.9% for Inter.
Manchester City are one game away from an historic treble – if they win, it will only be the 10th treble that we’ve ever seen in Europe. After beating rivals Manchester United in last weekend’s FA Cup final, they already have a domestic double under their belt, and now they have Inter standing in their way in Istanbul on Saturday night.
The Champions League has been the one trophy that has eluded City ever since their takeover in 2008 that ultimately shot them to the peak of the game and numerous domestic trophies over the years. Now, they are one game away from winning it and completing a sensational treble.
For Pep Guardiola, this is familiar territory. It is his fourth Champions League final as a manager, having won two with Barcelona – in 2009 and 2011 – and losing the 2021 edition as City boss, and he is looking to win his third title this weekend. Only Carlo Ancelotti has managed in more Champions League finals (five), while only Ancelotti (four) and Zinedine Zidane (three) have won more than his two. It remains to be seen if he will continue as City manager if he is victorious in Saturday’s final as he will have won just about everything there is to win at the club.
Last Meeting
The teams have never met in a competitive game, and will play for the first time in Saturday’s Champions League final. They last played a pre-season friendly back in 2011, when a certain Edin Džeko – likely to start up front for Inter – scored one of City’s goals in a 3-0 win.
Possible starting line-ups
Man City: Ederson; Walker, Rúben Dias, Aké; Stones, Rodri; Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Gündoğan, Grealish; Haaland
Josep Guardiola, Man City coach
Inter: Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro Martínez, Džeko
Simone Inzaghi, Inter coach
How they got here
INTER beat Port > Benfica > AC Milan
Inter finished second in their group (C) behind Bayern Munich (18pts) with 10 pts.
Man City beat Red Bulls Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid (5-1)
City finished top of the gorup in Group G with 14 pts, then Dortmund, SEvilla, FC Kobenhavn
Key players
Man City – Haaland
Inter – Lautaro Martinez
PREDICTIONS
Nuggets at Heat – Game 3
HP: Miami
RC: Nuggets
Knights at Panthers Game 3 (2-0)
RC: Knights
Man City vs Inter Milan in Instabul, Turkey
HP: Man City
RC: Man CityFF: Inter Milan 1-0
Santiago Leon is the Founder and CEO of the Sports Cast. He covers NFL, NBA, and world soccer. He’s also founder of sleon productions, which he specializes in technology and serves clients with solutions to make their business grow.
