The Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul is ready to host the Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter

The big day is here. European football is ready to crown a new champion. We still have a few hours to wait until Inter will contest the title with English champions Manchester City. The Nerazzurri are trying to be crowned Kings of Europe for the fourth time in their history and follow on from Real Madrid, who beat Liverpool last year.

Inter have made it to European Cup final for the sixth time – the second since it became the Champions League. City, who won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1969/70, are hoping to win the trophy for the first time ever following the defeat to Chelsea in 2021 in the Sky Blues’ first trip to the big game.

The Nerazzurri, who have already won the EA SPORTS Supercup and Coppa Italia Frecciarossa this season, are looking to win it for the fourth time and also win another treble, after the win over Bayern Munich in 2009/10. The Cityzens are after a treble this season as well after winning the Premier League (for the third year in a row) and the FA Cup.

Pep Guardiola’s side have been in imperious, unbeaten form in the Champions League this season, winning seven of their twelve matches so far and losing none. City came through a group including Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla and FC Copenhagen, and then got past RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the knock-out rounds. Inter, however, lost home and away to Bayern in the group stage but that didn’t stop them from qualifying in second place, ahead of Barcelona and Viktoria Plzen. In the knock-outs, the Nerazzurri won four and drew two in their games against Porto, Benfica and AC Milan, keeping five clean sheets in the process.

This final is actually the first-ever meeting between the two sides in European football. Inter have never faced City in their 16 seasons in the Champions League (199 goals scored to date) and have a record of seven wins and five defeats in their last twelve games against English sides. The Sky Blues have won three of their last four games against Italian teams and have, in total, won six, drawn six and lost four against sides from Serie A TIM.

City have won both of their games that have gone all the way to a penalty shoot-out in Europe, in the preliminary rounds of the 2009/09 UEFA Cup against Midtjylland and Aalborg. Inter’s record on penalties is two wins and two defeats; the most recent was against Schalke in the final of the 1996/97 UEFA Cup.

Guardiola, after two titles with Barcelona (2009 and 2011), is looking for his third Champions League win, which would see him become one of just six coaches to win the trophy with two different clubs. He would also draw level with Bob Paisley and Zinédine Zidane in the all-time list of the most successful coaches in the competition, one behind Carlo Ancelotti who leads the way with four. It would be the first title for Erling Haaland, who is the current top goalscorer in the competition with 12 of City’s 31 goals in the Champions League this season (19 for Inter).

Edin Džeko is the ex of the evening. The Bosnian scored 72 goals in 189 games for Manchester City between 2011 and 2015 and was part of a team that won two Premier League titles (2011/12 and 2013/14), one FA Cup (2010/11) and one League Cup (2012/14).

(Photo LaPresse)