Manchester City meet Inter Milan at Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey in 2022-23 UEFA Champions League Final.
Victory would see Man City claim a first Champions League title in their history – having finished runners-up to Chelsea in 2020-21 tournament, as well as their first overall European title since 1969-70 European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Inter Milan meanwhile are hunting for a fourth Champions League title in their history – although two of their three current titles were won under the former ‘European Cup’ name in the mid 1960s.
Team News
Kyle Walker is Man City’s only injury concern after he missed training this week with a back injury, although he has travelled with the squad to Istanbul.
Manager, Pep Guardiola otherwise has no other major injury concerns to report following last weekend’s FA Cup triumph over Manchester United, with a full squad in contention.
Inter could welcome defender, Milan Skriniar back into contention following his recovery from a back injury which has kept him sidelined since mid-April, although he won’t be risked if he isn’t fully match fit.
Joaquin Correa (calf) and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (thigh) are doubts and face late fitness tests.
Route to Final
Man City
| Round | Opposition | Venue | Result |
| Group G | Sevilla | Away | 0-4 |
| Group G | Borussia Dortmund | Home | 2-1 |
| Group G | Copenhagen | Home | 5-0 |
| Group G | Copenhagen | Away | 0-0 |
| Group G | Borussia Dortmund | Away | 0-0 |
| Group G | Sevilla | Home | 3-1 |
| R16 | RB Leipzig | Away | 1-1 |
| R16 | RB Leipzig | Home | 7-0 |
| Quarter-Finals | Bayern Munich | Home | 3-0 |
| Quarter-Finals | Bayern Munich | Away | 1-1 |
| Semi-Finals | Real Madrid | Home | 1-1 |
| Semi-Finals | Real Madrid | Away | 4-0 |
Erling Haaland scored five goals as led City to comfortable victories over Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund and Copenhagen in their three opening Group G matches, before being held to goalless draws at Copenhagen then Borussia Dortmund before beating Sevilla 3-1 at hoem to top the group.
Five second-leg goals from Haaland en-route to a 7-0 home victory saw Manchester City hammer RB Leipzig 8-1 on aggregate in their Round of 16 tie, after Riyad Mahrez’s opening goal in the first leg had been cancelled out by Josko Gvardiol.
Haaland then scored twice as Man City romped to a 4-0 aggregate Quarter-Final win over Bayern Munich, as the Norwegian plus Rodri and Bernardo Silva scored in a 3-0 first leg win at home prior to a 1-1 draw away in the return leg.
Kevin De Bruyne cancelled out Vinicius Junior’s goal as City snatched a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid in the first leg of their semi-final, before Silva’s brace plus goals from Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez completed a 4-0 home win to seal the tie 5-1 on aggregate.
Inter Milan
| Round | Opposition | Venue | Result |
| Group C | Bayern Munich | Home | 0-2 |
| Group C | Viktoria Plzen | Away | 0-2 |
| Group C | Barcelona | Home | 1-0 |
| Group C | Barcelona | Away | 3-3 |
| Group C | Viktoria Plzen | Home | 4-0 |
| Group C | Bayern Munich | Away | 2-0 |
| R16 | Porto | Home | 1-0 |
| R16 | Porto | Away | 0-0 |
| Quarter-Finals | Benfica | Away | 0-2 |
| Quarter-Finals | Benfica | Home | 3-3 |
| Semi-Finals | AC Milan | Away | 0-2 |
| Semi-Finals | AC Milan | Home | 1-0 |
Despite book-ending their Group Stage with 2-0 defeats to Bayern Munich, Inter secured second place in Group C courtesy of two wins over Viktoria Plzen – during which Edin Dzeko scored three goals, plus their 1-0 home win and dramatic 3-3 away draw against Barcelona.
Romelu Lukaku’s 86th minute first-leg winner at home saw Inter scrape past Portugal’s Porto in the Round of 16 following a goalless away draw in the second leg.
Nicolo Barella scored in both legs as Inter saw off Portuguese opposition for the second consecutive round with Benfica dispatched 5-3 on aggregate, as Barella and Lukaku scored in a 2-0 away first leg win before the Serie A club were held to a 3-3 draw at the San Siro.
Inter met their local rivals, AC Milan in the semi-finals with both legs at San Siro, which Inter comfortably won 3-0 aggregate with Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scoring in the first leg, before Lautaro Martinez scored the second leg winner in the 74th minute.
When is Kick-Off?
Man City meet Inter Milan at Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday 10 June in a 10pm TRT kick-off (8pm UK Time), with BT Sport 1 broadcasting the match live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- This is Manchester City’s first-ever meeting against Inter Milan in all UEFA competitions.
- Inter Milan have failed to beat a team managed by Pep Guardiola in two previous attempts (D1, L1), having drawn 0-0 at home then lost 2-0 away against Barcelona in Group Stage of 2009-10 tournament which Inter went on to finish as champions.
- This is Guardiola’s first major European final as a manager against Italian opposition, having previously met English, Portuguese and Ukranian teams across six Finals in UEFA competitions.
- Ilkay Gundogan has picked up four bookings in this season’s Champions League – more than any other Man City player during this campaign.
- Only three of Lautaro Martinez’s 28 goals in all competitions for Inter Milan this season were scored in the Champions League.
Prediction
With a continental treble at stake and having lost their only previous Champions League Final two years ago, Man City surely will have some nerves coming into this match despite their proven success under Guardiola.
City though can come into this match buoyany by a dominant attacking display with excellent pressing and goalkeeping distributuion into attack against Utd, although their end product was often inaccurate yet their resolute defence was enough to beat their local rivals last weekend.
Inter Milan meanwhile have a top goalkeeper in Andre Onana who must be at his absolute best if he is to stop Haaland, unless the defence can cut him off from City’s attack which in-turn could create alternative issues such is Man City’s attacking prowess across the pitch.
Their attack likewise must be at the top of their game because I do feel like they must dig in defensively to help out their defence, whilst fulfilling their attacking roles in the team which must be done clinically if they’re to avoid their golden patch of form hitting the wall here.
One positive in Inter’s favour though lies in their dugout because their manager, Simone Inzaghi has never lost a cup final as a manager in all competitions, which is an impressive record – having achieved that feat seven times but he needs to absolutely nail his tactics if he is to retain that record.
I however can’t help but feel that this is City’s time because they will have the experience of Champions League heartbreak to motivate them, on top of their incredible goalscoring record with 150 goals registered in all competitions this season and Haaland looks ready to unleash his best again.
Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 Inter Milan
Result: Manchester City 1-0 Inter Milan
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