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Big Match Feature: Manchester City v Inter Milan
The Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul is the venue for the 2023 Uefa Champions League final as Manchester City look to claim the trophy for the first time against three-time winners Inter Milan.
UCL FINAL BROADCAST DETAILS
Saturday, 10 June, 2023
SS Premier League - channel 203/223
Build-up from 7pm CAT
Kick-off at 9pm
Although this is only City's second European Cup final, it is their second in three seasons having lost an all-English contest 1-0 to Chelsea in Porto in 2021. Inter have reached this stage for the first time since claiming their third European Cup in Madrid in 2010; this is their sixth final appearance and, like City, second in the Uefa Champions League.
Newly-crowned Premier League champions and FA Cup winners City are unbeaten in this season's Uefa Champions League, winning seven of their 12 contests on the way to Istanbul and knocking out Bayern München and holders Real Madrid. They could become the 15th side to lift the trophy without losing a game and eighth in the Uefa Champions League era.
Inter, the 2022-23 Coppa Italia winners, have suffered two defeats on their way to this final, both against Bayern at the start and end of their group-stage campaign. They have won four of their six knockout games, keeping five clean sheets.
This is the sides' first meeting. It is the first time since Liverpool beat Inter's city rivals AC Milan on penalties in 2005, in the only other Uefa Champions League final staged in Istanbul, that the two finalists have never previously met in Uefa competition.
The rematch between those two clubs in 2007, when Milan defeated Liverpool 2-1 in Athens, is the most recent of four previous Anglo-Italian European Cup finals, all of them involving Liverpool, who have won two (both on penalties) and lost two.
FINAL PEDIGREE
MANCHESTER CITY
This is City's second European Cup final:
2020/21: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester City
Ederson, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Rúben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gündogan, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez all started City's defeat by Chelsea at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto two years ago. Scott Carson, Nathan Aké, Aymeric Laporte and Rodri were unused substitutes for Pep Guardiola's side.
City could become the 23rd side to win the European Cup, and the first new name on the trophy since Chelsea's 2012 triumph.
England have 14 European Cup triumphs from 25 final appearances; in the Uefa Champions League era it is six wins and nine defeats. This is the fifth of the last six Uefa Champions League finals to involve Premier League representation.
This is City's third European final. They beat Polish club Górnik Zabrze 2-1 at Vienna's Prater Stadion in the 1969-70 European Cup Winners' Cup final.
Guardiola, a winner with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, could become the sixth coach to win the European Cup with two different clubs, after Ernst Happel (Feyenoord 1970, Hamburg 1983), Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund 1997, Bayern 2001), José Mourinho (Porto 2004, Inter 2010), Jupp Heynckes (Real Madrid 1998, Bayern 2013) and Carlo Ancelotti (AC Milan 2003, 2007, Real Madrid 2014, 2022).
Victory against Inter would also enable Guardiola to join Bob Paisley and Zinédine Zidane as a three-time winner of the European Cup as a coach; Ancelotti holds the record with his four victories.
Gündogan scored Dortmund's goal from the penalty spot in their 2-1 Uefa Champions League final defeat by Bayern in 2013. Only three players have found the net for different clubs in the European Cup final; Velibor Vasovic (Partizan 1966, Ajax 1969), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United 2008, Real Madrid 2014, 2017) and Mario Mandžukic (Bayern 2013, Juventus 2017).
INTER
Inter's record in European Cup finals is W3 L2:
1963-64: Inter 3-1 Real Madrid
1964-65: Inter 1-0 Benfica
1966-67: Celtic 2-1 Inter
1971-72: Ajax 2-0 Inter
2009-10: Inter 2-0 Bayern
Victory would take Inter on to four European Cups, level with Ajax and behind only Real Madrid (14), Milan (seven), Bayern, Liverpool (both six) and Barcelona (five). They are currently on three alongside City's local rivals Manchester United.
Inter are the last Italian side to win the Uefa Champions League; indeed, only one Serie A club has featured in the final since they beat Bayern in Madrid 13 years ago, Juventus losing in 2015 and 2017.
Italian clubs have triumphed in 12 European Cup finals, losing 16. In the Uefa Champions League era their record is five wins and eight defeats.
The Nerazzurri lost 3-2 to Sevilla in the 2020 Uefa Europa League final, making their record in Uefa finals overall W8 L5.
Inter have won three of their five Uefa Cup/Uefa Europa League finals, both European/South American Cups and lost to Atlético de Madrid in the 2010 Uefa Super Cup.
UCL FINAL BROADCAST DETAILS
Saturday, 10 June, 2023
SS Premier League - channel 203/223
Build-up from 7pm CAT
Kick-off at 9pm
FORM GUIDE
MANCHESTER CITY
This is City's 12th Uefa Champions League campaign, all in succession; they have featured every season from 2011-12 onwards.
Including this season, the Manchester club's last 10 campaigns have all stretched into the knockout rounds, their best performance coming in that 2020-21 campaign when they reached a first final before losing to Chelsea.
In 2021-22, City finished first in group A on 12 points, one ahead of Paris, having won four of their six games. They then beat Sporting CP (5-0 a, 0-0 h) and Atlético de Madrid (1-0 h, 0-0 a) but were eliminated by eventual champions Real Madrid in the semifinals.
This season the Manchester club scored 11 goals in winning their first three games, sealing qualification with a goalless draw at Copenhagen on matchday 4. They were also held 0-0 at Borussia Dortmund in their next fixture before a 3-1 home victory against Sevilla.
Guardiola's side have finished first in their Uefa Champions League group for six successive seasons.
City drew 1-1 at Leipzig in the round of 16 first leg before a record-equalling 7-0 home win in the return, in which Erling Haaland scored five goals – only the third player to do so in the Uefa Champions League. That was City's joint biggest European victory.
Bayern were then beaten 3-0 in the first leg of their quarterfinal, City going through thanks to a 1-1 second-leg draw in Germany before ending Real Madrid's reign as holders (1-1 a, 4-0 h), the second-leg result the Spanish side's joint biggest Uefa Champions League loss.
City scored 14 goals in winning their three home knockout games, drawing all three away fixtures 1-1 to make it five successive draws in the competition outside Manchester.
Haaland has 12 goals in this season's Uefa Champions League, four more than any other player, while De Bruyne leads the assists charts with seven. The Norwegian striker was also the 2020-21 competition's top scorer with ten goals for Borussia Dortmund.
City are the top scorers in the 2022-23 competition with 31 goals – five more than Benfica, Madrid and Napoli. Inter have managed 19.
On 20 May, City won their third successive Premier League title, their fifth in six seasons and a ninth league title overall – and seventh since 2011-12.
This is the first time City have faced Italian opponents since the 2019-20 Uefa Champions League group stage, when they beat Atalanta 5-1 at home before a 1-1 draw at San Siro in Milan.
Although City have won three of their last four games against Serie A sides, drawing the other, they have only four victories in their last 12 matches with Italian clubs (D5 L3). Their all-time record against Italian opposition is W6 D6 L4.
This is only City's third knockout tie with an Italian side in Uefa competition, and the first since a 3-0 second-leg victory in Manchester completed a 5-2 aggregate success against Inter's local rivals Milan in the 1978-79 Uefa Cup third round. They lost to Juventus in the other, in the 1976-77 Uefa Cup first round (1-0 h, 0-2 a).
City's only previous visit to Türkiye in Uefa competition came in the club's very first continental tie, in the first round of the 1968-69 European Cup, when they lost the second leg 2-1 to Fenerbahçe in Istanbul to go out by the same aggregate score.
City's record in two Uefa penalty shootouts is W2 L0:
4-2 v Midtjylland, 2008-09 Uefa Cup second qualifying round
4-3 v Aalborg, 2008-09 Uefa Cup round of 16
INTER
This is the Nerazzurri's 16th Uefa Champions League campaign and a fifth in a row, their longest run since they appeared for ten successive seasons between 2002-03 and 2011-12. This is their 12th appearance in the knockout stage.
Simone Inzaghi's side ended the club's run of three successive group stage eliminations last term by finishing second behind Real Madrid in group D; Inter recovered after taking only one point from their first two fixtures to finish on ten and reach the round of 16 for the first time since 2011-12.
Inter's campaign ended in the first knockout round, however, despite a 1-0 second-leg win at Liverpool, the damage having been done by a 2-0 loss in the first game in Milan.
Inter were second in Serie A in 2021-22, finishing two points behind Milan.
This season Inter's group C campaign started and finished with 2-0 defeats against Bayern, but they remained unbeaten in between those losses, collecting 10 points including a decisive four against Barcelona (1-0 h, 3-3 a) and wrapping up progress with a 4-0 success at home to Viktoria Plzen on matchday 5.
The Milan club edged past Porto in the round of 16, winning 1-0 at home before holding out for a goalless draw in Portugal, and overcame another Portuguese side in the last eight, a 2-0 first-leg win at Benfica preceding a 3-3 draw in Milan in which Inter led 3-1 until the 86th minute.
Inter then overcame city rivals AC Milan in the semifinals, winning 2-0 in the away leg and 1-0 at home.
The Nerazzurri have scored 199 goals in the Uefa Champions League, group stage to final.
Inter have kept clean sheets in eight of their last 11 Uefa Champions League matches, including five of the six in this season's knockout phase. They have, however, conceded 10 goals in the competition this season – twice as many as Manchester City.
Last season's round of 16 loss to Liverpool made Inter's aggregate record in knockout ties against English clubs W6 L6. The six defeats have come in the last eight contests, including four of the last five.
All three of the Nerazzurri's European Cup triumphs have included victories against English opponents. They beat Everton in the 1963-64 preliminary round (0-0 a, 1-0 h) and Liverpool in the semifinals the following season (1-3 a, 3-0 h), defeating Chelsea in the 2009-10 round of 16 (2-1 h, 1-0 a).
The win at Liverpool last season was Inter's first against an English club outside Milan since that 2010 victory at Chelsea, ending a run of four successive defeats.
Inter have seven wins in their last 12 games against Premier League opposition, losing the other five.
Inter have played five previous Uefa matches in Türkiye (W1 D2 L2) with no victories in the last four. Their two previous encounters in Istanbul brought a goalless draw against Besiktas in the first leg of the 1987-88 Uefa Cup first round, a tie they won 3-1 on aggregate, and a 1-0 defeat by Fenerbahçe in the 2007-08 Uefa Champions League group stage. They are therefore yet to score in Istanbul.
Inter's record in four Uefa penalty shoot-outs is W2 L2:
5-4 v Celtic, 1971-72 European Cup semifinal
3-4 v Aston Villa, 1994-95 Uefa Cup first round
5-3 v Grazer AK, 1996-97 Uefa Cup second round
1-4 v Schalke, 1996-97 Uefa Cup final
LINKS AND TRIVIA
Edin Džeko scored 72 goals in 189 games in all competitions for City between 2011 and 2015. He was part of the Premier League title-winning sides in 2011-12, scoring the second goal in the decisive 3-2 comeback win against Queens Park Rangers on the final day, and 2013-14, and also helped the club win the FA Cup in 2010-11 and the English League Cup in 2013-14.
Have also played in England:
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United 2016–18, Arsenal 2018–19)
Matteo Darmian (Manchester United 2015–19)
Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea 2011/12, 2013, 2021/22, West Brom 2012/13 loan, Everton 2013–17, Manchester United 2017–19)
Lukaku's record in his 18 games against City is W3 D3 L12. He has scored five goals, all for Everton, most notably in 2016-17 in both a 1-1 draw at the City of Manchester Stadium and a 4-0 home success at Goodison Park. The Belgian striker is currently on loan to Inter from Chelsea.
Guardiola finished his playing career in Europe with spells at Brescia (2001/02, 2003) and Roma (2002/03).
Inzaghi scored in Lazio's 5-0 win against Guardiola's Brescia on 4 November 2001. Lazio were also 3-1 winners in Rome against Brescia on 17 May 2003, the penultimate game of Guardiola's European playing career.
One of Guardiola's three Serie A goals was a penalty for Brescia in a 2-1 defeat away to Inter on 14 April 2002.
Guardiola's staff at City includes Enzo Maresca, who played in Italy with Juventus, Bologna, Piacenza, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Palermo and Verona.
Inter goalkeeper André Onana was in the Barcelona academy when Guardiola was the first team coach between 2010 and 2012.
Onana, who has made more saves (45) than any other goalkeeper in this season's Uefa Champions League, is the only player from either side to have played every minute of the campaign. Džeko, Mkhitaryan and Lautaro Martínez have also appeared for Inter in all 12 matches – as have Bernardo Silva, Gündogan and Jack Grealish for City.
Have played together:
John Stones & Romelu Lukaku (Everton 2013–16)
Kevin De Bruyne & Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea 2013)
Ilkay Gündogan & Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Borussia Dortmund 2013–16)
International teammates:
Nathan Aké & Stefan de Vrij, Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands)
Ilkay Gündogan & Robin Gosens (Germany)
Julián Álvarez & Lautaro Martínez, Joaquín Correa (Argentina)
Kevin De Bruyne & Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
Álvarez and Martínez were both members of Argentina's victorious squad at the 2022 Fifa World Cup.
Nicolò Barella and Lukaku were both on the scoresheet as Italy defeated Belgium 2-1 in the Uefa Euro 2020 quarterfinals. De Bruyne played 90 minutes for Belgium.
Barella went on to play in Italy's victories on penalties against a Spain team including Rodri and Aymeric Laporte in the semifinals and, in the final, an England side fielding Walker, Stones, Kalvin Phillips and Jack Grealish.
Walker, Stones, Phillips, Grealish and Foden all played as England won 2-1 in Italy, Barella and Francesco Acerbi appearing for the home side, in a Uefa EURO 2024 qualifier on 23 March.
Barella scored against De Bruyne's Belgium as the Azzurri again prevailed 2-1 in the 2021 Uefa Nations League Finals third-placed playoff.
Gündogan and Alessandro Bastoni both scored – the latter with his first international goal – as Germany defeated Italy 5-2 in the Uefa Nations League on 14 June 2022. Barella and Federico Dimarco also played for Italy.
Dumfries scored in the Netherlands' 4-1 defeat of De Bruyne's Belgium 4-1 in the Uefa Nations League on 3 June 2022.
Gosens scored for Germany in a 4-2 win against Dias' Portugal at Uefa Euro 2020, the Manchester City defender also scoring an own goal.
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Manchester City
City are bidding to become the 10th team to win a treble of league, cup and European Cup, and the second in four seasons after Bayern München in 2019-20. They would be only the second English club to achieve the feat, following in the footsteps of Manchester United in 1998-99.
City finished as Premier League champions with 89 points, five more than second-placed Arsenal but 10 fewer than in 2021-22. It was their third successive title and a fifth in six seasons.
Pep Guardiola's side won 12 successive league matches between 25 February and 21 May, the run ended by a 1-1 draw at Brighton in their penultimate fixture on 24 May.
City lost their last Premier League game of the season 1-0 at Brentford on 28 May. It was their fifth league loss of the campaign, two more than in 2021-22.
That also ended City's 25-match unbeaten run in all competitions (W20 D5), since a 1-0 loss at Tottenham on 5 February.
Guardiola has now won 11 league titles in 14 seasons as a top-flight manager with Barcelona, Bayern and City. He has won three consecutive league titles with each of those clubs.
City completed a domestic double with a 2-1 victory against local rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley on 3 June. Ilkay Gündogan scored in each half, his first goal coming after only 12 seconds – the fastest-ever strike in the fixture.
Aged 32 years 222 days, Gündogan was the oldest player to score twice in an FA Cup final since Bolton captain Nat Lofthouse (32 years 249 days) in 1958 – also against Manchester United.
That was the second time City had won the league and FA Cup in the same campaign, after 2018-19, making Guardiola only the third coach to win the English double in multiple seasons after Sir Alex Ferguson (1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99) and Arsène Wenger (1997-98, 2001-02).
Kevin De Bruyne set up both goals in the final, making it 28 assists for City over the season in all competitions – 12 more than any other Premier League player.
City have now won the FA Cup seven times, the joint sixth most in the competition's history.
The Cityzens have scored 150 goals in all competitions this season, the most of any team in Europe's top five leagues. It is the fourth time an English top-flight side has reached that mark, with City also providing the other three (156 in 2013-14, 169 in 2018-19, 150 in 2021-22).
Guardiola's side scored 100 goals at the City of Manchester Stadium in all competitions this season, equalling their own record from 2018-19 for the most home goals in a campaign by an English top-flight club.
Erling Haaland's goal in a 3-0 win against West Ham on 3 May made it 35 for the season, a new Premier League record, surpassing the 34-goal totals of Andy Cole (Newcastle, 1993/94) and Alan Shearer (Blackburn, 1994/95).
Haaland's final tally of 36 goals was the most in the English top flight since Ron Davies scored 37 for Southampton in 1966-67.
The Norwegian has 52 goals for City in all competitions – although he has struck only once in his last seven games and is without a goal in his last four, his longest barren run as a City player.
Haaland's penalty winner in a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace on 11 March was his 28th Premier League goal of the season, beating his previous best total for a league campaign – 27 for Borussia Dortmund in 2020/21.
Twenty-two of Haaland's league goals this season have come at home with 14 away. He is only the second City player to reach double figures for goals home and away, after Sergio Agüero (13 home, 13 away) in 2014-15.
Haaland's 27th goal came in a 4-1 win at Bournemouth on 25 February, overtaking Agüero's 26-goal mark in 2014-15 as the highest tally for a City player in a single Premier League campaign.
City were knocked out of the English League Cup by a 2-0 quarterfinal loss at Southampton on 11 January. That is their only defeat by more than one goal all season.
INTER
Inter ended the season in third place, their lowest Serie A finish since coming fourth in 2018-19. They were two points behind runners-up Lazio but 18 adrift of champions Napoli.
After losing five of seven games in Serie A between 26 February and 15 April, scoring only four goals, the Nerazzurri won seven of their final eight, scoring 23 times.
Inter suffered only one defeat in that sequence, going down 3-1 at Napoli on 21 May. That is Inter's only reverse in their last 13 games in all competitions, and the only one of the last 12 they have not won.
Inter suffered 12 league defeats this season, one more than in their previous three seasons combined.
Romelu Lukaku scored against Napoli and was also on target in Inter's next Serie A game, a 3-2 win against Atalanta on 27 May. The Belgium striker struck in the first minute and Nicolò Barella was on target in the third, the first time Inter had scored twice in the first three minutes of a Serie A game since 5 January 1941 against Roma.
Inter scored 11 times in the first 15 minutes in Serie A this season, the most in the Italian top flight.
The Milan club were also first as regards first-half goals (33), ending their Serie A campaign with a 1-0 win at Torino on 3 June settled by Marcelo Brozovic's 37th-minute strike.
Lukaku has seven goals in his last seven Serie A appearances; Martínez has seven in his last eight.
A 6-0 win at Verona on 3 May was Simone Inzaghi's 100th game as Inter coach in all competitions; his record in those matches was W62 D18 L20.
In that game, Inter scored six goals or more in a Serie A away game for the first time since a 7-0 win at Sassuolo on 22 September 2017.
Martínez is the first Inter player to score 15 goals in three consecutive Serie A seasons since Mauro Icardi, who did so in four between 2014-15 and 2017-18.
The Argentinian forward ended the season with 21 league goals, matching his career-best from 2021-22; only Napoli's Victor Osimhen, with 26, scored more in Serie A in 2022-23. No other player managed more than 16.
The Nerazzurri lifted the Coppa Italia for the ninth time on 24 May, coming from behind to beat Fiorentina 2-1 in Rome courtesy of a Martínez double.
Martínez's missed penalty in a 2-1 loss at Spezia on 10 March meant he has failed to convert four of his last eight spot kicks. Lukaku has converted all four of his penalties for Inter this season and has not missed from the spot since 26 August 2017 when he was at Manchester United. He has scored 19 out of 19 with Inter.
Edin Džeko has 22 Serie A goals for Inter, all of them after turning 35; the club's other over-35 scorers combined have managed 19 goals.
Inter have kept 17 clean sheets in 35 games in all competitions in 2023.
The Nerazzurri won the Italian Super Cup on 18 January, beating AC Milan 3-0.
A back injury restricted Milan Škriniar to a late cameo in the Uefa Champions League round of 16 second leg against Porto, his sole appearance since he was forced off in the first leg against the Portuguese side. The defender has not played since and underwent surgery on 20 April but was an unused substitute in the Coppa Italia final and the last Serie A game against Torino.
Joaquín Correa missed the last two Serie A games with a calf injury.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has not played since suffering a thigh injury in the second leg of the Uefa Champions League semifinal against Milan.
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