ALL SET IN ISTANBUL, AS MANCHESTER CITY FACES INTER MILAN FOR THE UCL TITLE.

It’s all down to the last game and decider of the 2022//2023 UEFA Champions League competition. A search for the best team that will be crowned the winner of the prestigious trophy wanted by every player and club. It’s the clash of the Titan, two countries and giants. It’s the battle between three Times champions and the 2020/2021 finalists in Istanbul.

The UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul is a fitting stage for the first-ever competitive meeting between Manchester City and Inter Milan as both try to back up winning their domestic cups with European club football’s grandest prize. As Premier League champions, City are also chasing a treble while Inter, who achieved that feat in 2010, is looking to win this competition for the fourth time.

Despite never winning the UCL, the Cityzens are much more recent visitors to the final as they’re here for the second time in three seasons, looking to go one better after losing 1-0 to Chelsea in the 2020/21 season. Their preparations have been outstanding for this showpiece event, as a final-day league defeat to Brentford with the title already wrapped up is their only competitive defeat since early February included in that sequence are UCL knockout victories by at least a three-goal margin over RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid, but they haven’t been quite as free-scoring on the road. They haven’t always needed to be, but they drew each away leg of their three knockout games 1-1 and have interestingly drawn their last five UCL games on foreign soil as this clash shows potential to go the distance.

That could offer a grain of hope to Inter, who won the away legs of their quarter and semifinals against Benfica and AC Milan and have only lost one game this term on foreign soil. However, losing three of their last five fixtures against English opponents with just 2 wins is slightly concerning, including a home win against Liverpool last term as they exited at the first knockout stage.

But if any defence can keep an irresistible Man City at bay, it could be Inter’s as they’ve kept five clean sheets across their last six UCL matches. Manager Simone Inzaghi knows it will be tough, but is optimistic, insisting “The beauty of football is that the favourites don’t always win. We’ll have to be good at making sure key moments go for us”.

By:Herosportgh.com/Solomon Duah (Sports Atom)