Manchester City and Inter Milan will face off this Saturday, (10th June) in the UEFA Champions League Final in what would be the first meeting between the two sides in the competition.
The Cityzens will be looking to emulate Premier League rivals Liverpool who 18 years ago performed one of the greatest comebacks in the tournament’s history against Inter’s city rivals AC Milan to win a remarkable champions league final at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.
City, considered by many as favorites going into the clash will be chasing a historic treble and their first Champions League trophy as City manager Pep Guardiola has tasted much success in his time at the club laying his hands on every trophy available in England but has failed to win Europe’s most coveted prize.
Inter on the other hand has been the Dark Horse of the competition and come into the match as the underdogs (and they seem to enjoy it). Meanwhile in terms of History making, that will not be the case for an Inter side who have won the title on three different occasions of which the last was in the 2010 campaign, the year which they last made it to the finals of the tournament and same where they clinched their last treble till date under Portuguese manager José Mourinho.
In what is set to be an interesting and intense clash of contrasting identities and styles of play, City will be aiming to join a few of Europe’s Elite clubs who have won the majestic treble while Inter will fight with everything they have and try to stand in the way of an extremely talented City side. With the event on its Horizon we shall take a look at the major talking points which could decide the outcome of the match.
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THE KEY INDIVIDUAL BATTLES TO LOOK OUT FOR;
ERLING HAALAND V FRANCO ACERBI 
How do Inter stop the Norwegian goal machine?
52 goals in 52 games in his debut season in the Premier League. Haaland kept up with his one goal per game ratio which we all to be honest, doubted he couldn’t achieve due to the intense nature of the Premier League. He did it and smashed countless goal scoring records in the process. Currently the Champions league top scorer with 12 goals in 10 appearances, the Norwegian is City’s biggest attacking threat and the Inter defense must do all they can to limit the space he gets.
Inter’s 35 year old defender Francesco Acerbi standing at 6”4 who is set to be tasked with marking Haaland must be ready for the challenge as it will be no easy task at all. He will definitely be getting help from his teammates in achieving this difficult task. The Inter defense must have taken some lessons from Antonio Rudiger’s and Real Madrid approach at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of the semifinal against Haaland.
KEVIN DEBRUYNE V MARCELO BROZOVIC 
The Belgian playmaker is City’s creator-in-chief and probably its most important player therefore, stopping him from influencing the game and disrupting the link between him and Haaland will be paramount to Inter’s success.
This job is however, easier said than done as the Belgian is currently enjoying his best season ever at the Etihad this campaign scoring 10 goals and providing an outstanding 31 assists for his teammates.
Inter will have to rely on defensive anchor Marcelo Brozović to track down DeBruyne. The Croatian will have a very busy night as he will not only have to nullify the Belgian but will also be in charge of orchestrating Inter’s attack from deep with his playmaking abilities.
LATAURO MARTINEZ V JOHN STONES
The Argentine forward will be hungry for more success after winning the 
World Cup in December. He’s currently enjoying the best season of his career to date with 28 goals and 11 assists this campaign meaning that City will have to be aware of both the goal threat and the creative threat he poses.
He will be the main threat for City to nullify in the match as he is, undoubtedly Inter’s best player ahead of the match. City will be lucky to have Kylie Walker return to fitness ahead of the final after suffering a back injury in the FA Cup final against Manchester United. At the time of writing, the English defender is still a doubt for the game according to reports. It goes without saying that his presence in the game would make life easier for John stones, who by virtue of playing in midfield in City’s new 3-2-4-1 formation would have to pay attention to the sneaky movements of Nicolo Barella, a player who has proved to be one of the best box to box midfielders in the game in recent years. City must find a way to counter his often untracked late runs into the box to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
EDIN DZEKO V RUBEN DIAZ
The Bosnian attacker will come up against his former club where he won two Premier League titles and an FA Cup.
He will be a constant threat from set pieces and is vital to Inter’s counter attacks thanks to his great aerial strength and excellent hold-up play and link-up play as Inter would most likely often resort to him to get out of Man City’s pressure through long balls.
The 37 year old veteran would be ready to give his all in what could be his last chance to lift the Champions League trophy. However, he is set to come up against an in-form and ruthless Ruben Dias who will not hesitate to shut down the Bosnian at the slightest whiff of danger.
TACTICAL OVERVIEW
The Cityzens are expected to line up in their usual 3-2-4-1 formation and Inter will most likely continue with their 3-5-2.
City will look to dominate possession, control the game and create a lot of chances while Inter, are expected to continue with a counter-attacking approach, which has seen them win 11 of their last 12 games.
The attention will be in the Middle of the park for City, with the likes of Rodri, Gündoğan, Kevin DeBruyne, Haaland and Bernardo Silva, who will be looking to find spaces in between the lines to unlock Inter’s defense.
Inter on the other hand, will try to expose City on the counter with the pace and quality of their wingbacks Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco.
In the defensive phase of the game, the wingbacks will seek to pin City’s wingers out wide.
The question remains for Pep Guardiola is how to defend the wingbacks when Inter have the ball.
Will the likes of Jack Grealish be asked to track Dumfries back when City lose possession?
Even if he is tasked as such, will he be able to dispense his defensive duties with the required efficiency?
Or does Pep Guardiola have some other idea to defend the quality crosses to present to the likes of Dzeko and Lukaku?
Nobody knows!
What we know for sure is that if City do not control Inter’s wingbacks, it could be critical as they are a crucial component of the Nerrazurri’s attack and they have the quality to hurt City.
ANOTHER PRESSURE COOKER FOR PEP GUARDIOLA
Will the Spanish Manager tinker with his world beating system/formation this time?
It is not uncommon for Pep Guardiola before an important match in the Champions League to make changes to his team’s working formation or tactics.
Despite being regarded as one of the greatest managers in the world, Pep has more than once succumbed to pressure and made some tactical decisions which were unjustifiable in key games especially in the Champions League which have not always worked out well for him.
The pressure is definitely going to be high on Guardiola and City who are considered by many, the favorites to win this competition, especially after the acquisition of “you know who” last summer.
The Spanish manager must be at his best in decision making and not overthink his team’s strategy, tactics or approach to the game. He has a working formula and it is expected that he will stick to it.
The Nerrazurri on the other hand are desperately hungry to win this match as they’re very aware that this is a rare opportunity to achieve something very special and might not have another in the next couple of years, amidst the well documented financial struggles of the club. And with players like Henrikh Mkhitaryan 34, Edin Džeko 37, Franco Acerbi 35, Samir Handanovic 40 and Danilo D’Ambrosio 34 all approaching the twilights of their career there will be an extra motivation to go all out and fight for the trophy on Saturday night in Istanbul.
Players to watch:
Man City- Rodri and Gundogan
Inter Milan- Andre Onana and Romelu Lukaku
