Manchester City will look to win their first-ever UEFA Champions League title this Saturday when they face Inter Milan at the Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadium in Istanbul.
The Cityzens are facing Inter for the first time in a competitive game, and both sides are trying to back up winning their domestic cups with a UCL trophy.
City has already won two titles, beating fierce rivals Manchester United 2-1 at Wembley to lift the FA Cup while also pipping Arsenal to the Premier League title. So they remain on course to become the second Premier League team after Manchester United to win a historic treble.
Even more pressing for them is the need to finally win the Champions League, a trophy that has eluded Pep Guardiola since his move to the Etihad Stadium. The former Barcelona coach has been successful domestically but has suffered heartbreaks in this competition. His most recent outing at this tournament stage came two years ago when Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea side beat him.
He knows how important Winning this trophy is and will be desperate to finally land his third UCL title, having won it with Barcelona.
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His side’s form ahead of this game makes them favourites to win, as they have lost just one of the games they have played since early February (W21, D5).
Meanwhile, Inter Milan are not pushovers, with the San Siro side in a run of eleven wins from their last 12 games in all competitions (L1). That run includes a 2-1 win over Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia final.
So they come into this tie looking for their second cup win of the season. They are also looking to win the Champions League title for the fourth time in their illustrious history, having most recently won it in 2010.
Moreover, Simone Inzaghi’s side have been impressive in this competition, having won away from home against Benfica and AC Milan. They have only lost one UCL game this term on foreign soil (W2, D2).
But they have lost three of their last five fixtures against English opponents (W2), which is slightly concerning. However, they can count on their defence to keep City’s rampant attackers at bay, keeping five clean sheets across their last six UCL matches (W4, D2).
Meanwhile, the last three UCL finals were decided by a single goal between the 40th and 60th minute, so we might see a low-scoring game of under 2.5 goals.
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