5 reasons why Manchester City could struggle against Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League final
Manchester City are the odds-on favourites heading into the UEFA Champions League final against Inter Milan this Saturday. City took Real Madrid to the cleaners in the second leg of their semi-final tie and won it 5-1 on aggregate.
Domestically, Manchester City pipped Arsenal to the Premier League title and also beat Manchester United 2-1 in the FA Cup final. As such, they are now just a single win away from completing a historic treble.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan are not a team that many would have fancied going all the way in the Champions League at the start of the season. But over the course of the campaign, they've shown how good they are and will be no pushovers on Saturday.
Finals are always difficult games to call especially when the stakes are as high as they are ahead of Saturday's showdown. Despite City being the favourites to win the final, there is every chance that the Nerazzurri could cause an upset.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five reasons why Manchester City could struggle against Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League final.
#5 Simone Inzaghi is the king of cup competitions
Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi has failed to get the best out of his players over the course of the two league campaigns he has coached them for. However, it's worth noting that Inzaghi excels at cup competitions and has done a tremendous job in knockout tournaments.
He won three domestic cups with Lazio before joining Inter Milan in 2021. Inzaghi has managed eight cup finals across the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana for Lazio and Inter combined and has won seven of them.
Inzaghi's Inter Milan have also fared well against the best teams in Serie A this season. They performed well against the likes of Napoli, Juventus and AC Milan. This goes to show that Inzaghi has the ability to extract the best out of his players when the stakes are high and Saturday's game should be right up his alley.
#4 Manchester City have bottled it in the Champions League final previously despite being favourites
We don't have to rewind to ancient history to find evidence to support this claim. Pep Guardiola's men went into the 2021 Champions League final against Chelsea as the odds-on favourites but ended up losing the game.
Manchester City weren't at their fluid best and a disciplined Chelsea unit shut them out. Even last Sunday against Manchester United in the FA Cup final, City failed to bring out their best.
If not for two worldies from Ilkay Gundogan, one of which was aided by sub-par goalkeeping by David de Gea, City might not have walked away with a win.
One-off matches like finals are always difficult to dominate and when it comes against a team like Inter Milan that has done well in cup competitions, it could get even tougher.
#3 Inter Milan's 3-5-2 formation can severely hamper Manchester City's fluidity
Inter Milan, like Manchester City, use a three-man defence. But a key difference here is that the Nerazzurri uses two hard-working wing-backs to give them a numerical advantage on both sides of the pitch. City use a 3-4-3 system while Inter use a 3-5-2 formation.
The likes of Federico Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries will press City's wingers directly and relentlessly and try to nullify their threat. They will also bomb forward during counter-attacks and the prospect of seven mobile players running at you can intimidate any team, even Manchester City.
In midfield, the trio of Marcelo Brozovic, Nicolo Barella and Hakan Calhanoglu make for a mobile unit and City are not going to enjoy a lot of freedom at the centre of the park. Manchester City striker Haaland is not a player who gets too involved in what happens in the middle of the pitch.
As such, if Inter can curb City's movement in wide areas as well as midfield, they'll be in with a massive chance of causing an upset on Saturday.
Simone Inzaghi feels Inter are not going to alter their style of play against Man City.
“We won’t change our approach. There will be moments during the match where we need to be more attacking, and others where we need to be strong defensively.”
[via @SempreIntercom] https://t.co/pKIU3E5RCc
#2 Inter Milan have one of the best defences in Europe
Inter Milan's defence has done an excellent job this season and Inzaghi has made the most of the resources at his disposal. Former Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana, who joined Inter on a free transfer last summer, has managed to establish himself as one of the best in the world over the course of the 2022-23 campaign.
In addition to his shot-stopping abilities, Onana has also impressed with his accurate distribution. Defenders Alessandro Baston and Stefan de Vrij are both comfortable on the ball and are also solid at dispensing their primary responsibility of thwarting attacks.
Matteo Darmian is the more mobile of the three centre-backs and he has done a very good job as well. Francesco Acerbi, who is on loan, has also done a solid job whenever called upon.
Inter Milan have kept five clean sheets in their six Champions League knockout stage matches this season. City are going to have their work cut out trying to break them down on Saturday.
#1 The Romelu Lukaku - Lautaro Martinez strike partnership
The Romelu Lukaku - Lautaro Martinez strike partnership was the heart and soul of Inter Milan's 2020-21 Serie A triumph. Lukaku, who subsequently joined Chelsea that summer, had a torrid 2021-22 campaign in the Premier League and returned to Inter Milan on loan last summer.
He struggled with fitness upon his return and impressed only sporadically. But the big Belgian has got back to his best in recent months and has been in spectacular form of late. In his last 11 matches for Inter, Lukaku has scored seven goals and provided five assists.
Meanwhile, Martinez has done a fabulous job too, scoring 11 goals and providing four assists in his last 13 outings for the Nerazzurri. These two could cause some serious problems for City on Saturday.
Not surprised Romelu Lukaku wants to stay at Inter Milan, question is will it be a loan or will Inter Milan pay a big fee? https://t.co/RfRIbffQA5