Manchester City and Inter Milan will compete against each other for the UEFA Champions League trophy, with the match taking place at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, which is the chosen venue for the final in 2023.

This will be Manchester City’s second attempt at winning the trophy, while Inter Milan has won it three times in the past.

This is City’s second time reaching the final in three seasons, having lost to Chelsea in 2021. Meanwhile, Inter Milan have reached the final for the first time since winning the competition in 2010. The two teams have never met before in UEFA competition. City are unbeaten in the competition this season, while Inter have suffered two defeats.

Final pedigree

Manchester City

Manchester City have reached the UEFA Champions League final for the second time in three seasons, having lost to Chelsea in 2021. If they win, they will become the 23rd team to win the European Cup and the first new name on the trophy since Chelsea’s 2012 victory.

This is City’s third European final, having won the 1969/70 European Cup Winners’ Cup final. In the UEFA Champions League era, the Premier League has six wins and nine defeats in 25 final appearances, with five of the last six finals involving Premier League representation.

Pep Guardiola could become the sixth coach to win the European Cup with two different clubs.

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Inter

Inter Milan have won three and lost two European Cup finals, with their most recent win being against Bayern in 2010. If they win the final against Manchester City, they will have four European Cups, level with Ajax and behind Real Madrid, Milan, Bayern, Liverpool, and Barcelona.

Inter are the last Italian team to win the UEFA Champions League, and only one Serie A club has made it to the final after Juventus lost to Barca in 2015 and Real Madrid in 2017.

Italian clubs have won five and lost eight finals in the Champions League era. Inter’s overall record in UEFA finals is W8 L5, having won three UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League finals and both European/South American Cups.

Manchester City

This is Manchester City’s 12th consecutive UEFA Champions League campaign. In their last 10 campaigns, they have advanced to the knockout rounds each time, with their best performance being a loss to Chelsea in the 2020/21 final.

This season, City won their group with 12 points and have finished first in their group for six consecutive seasons.

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They scored 11 goals in the first three games and advanced to the knockout rounds with a goalless draw at Copenhagen.

Their biggest win was a 7-0 victory against Leipzig, and they scored 14 goals in their three home knockout games.

They advanced to the final after eliminating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Erling Haaland has scored 12 goals in the competition.

Inter

Inter Milan have performed quite well in the Champions League, keeping clean sheets in eight of their last 11 matches and conceding ten goals this season.

They have had mixed success against English clubs in knockout ties, with six wins and six losses. They have won all three of their European Cup triumphs against English opponents, including a win against Liverpool last season.

Inter have seven wins in their last 12 games against Premier League opposition. They have played five previous UEFA matches in Turkey, with one win, two draws, and two losses. They have yet to score in Istanbul.

Links and trivia

Edin Džeko scored 72 goals in 189 games for Manchester City between 2011 and 2015, and was part of the team that won the Premier League title in 2011/12 and 2013/14, as well as the FA Cup in 2010/11 and the English League Cup in 2013/14.

Other players who have played in England include Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Matteo Darmian, and Romelu Lukaku. Lukaku has played 18 games against City, winning three, drawing three, and losing 12. He has scored five goals, with the most notable being a 1-1 draw at the City of Manchester Stadium and a 4-0 home success at Goodison Park while playing for Everton. Lukaku is currently on loan to Inter from Chelsea.

Pep Guardiola ended his playing career in Europe after playing for Brescia and Roma in different seasons. Inzaghi scored in Lazio’s 5-0 win against Guardiola’s Brescia in 2001, and Lazio won 3-1 against Brescia in Rome in 2003, which was one of the last games of Guardiola’s European playing career.

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Guardiola scored one of his three Serie A goals with a penalty for Brescia in a 2-1 loss to Inter in 2002. Enzo Maresca, one of Guardiola’s staff at City, played in Italy with several teams. André Onana, Inter’s goalkeeper, was in the Barcelona academy when Guardiola was the first team coach between 2010 and 2012. Onana has made the most saves in this season’s UEFA Champions League, and has played every minute of the campaign, which is the same for Džeko, Mkhitaryan, and Lautaro Martínez for Inter and Bernardo Silva, Gündoğan, and Jack Grealish for City.

Stones and Lukaku played together at Everton from 2013 to 2016, while De Bruyne and Lukaku played together at Chelsea in 2013. Gündoğan and Mkhitaryan were teammates at Borussia Dortmund from 2013 to 2016. Aké and de Vrij, as well as Dumfries, played for the Netherlands, while Gündoğan and Gosens played for Germany.

Álvarez and Martínez, as well as Correa, were on Argentina’s team that won the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Barella and Lukaku were on the scoresheet when Italy defeated Belgium in the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2020. Walker, Stones, Phillips, Grealish, and Foden played for England when they won against Italy in a UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier.

Barella scored against De Bruyne’s team as Italy won against Belgium in the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals third-place play-off. Gündoğan and Bastoni both scored in Germany’s victory against Italy in the UEFA Nations League, where Barella and Dimarco also played for Italy.

Credit || UEFA