How Manchester City, Inter Milan Could Line Up in Highly-Anticipated Champions League Final

How Manchester City, Inter Milan Could Line Up in Highly-Anticipated Champions League Final

Martin Moses
updated at June 10, 2023 at 6:19 AM
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  • Pep Guardiola will tonight pit his wits against Simone Inzaghi in the Champions League final
  • Guardiola is chasing his first title with Manchester City, while his counterpart is gunning for the first-ever
  • Inter Milan will have to choose one of Romelu Lukaku or Edin Dzeko upfront

All eyes will be focused at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on June 10 when Manchester City line up to face Inter Milan in the Champions League final.

Manchester City head into the clash as overwhelming favourites after another stellar season that saw them win a domestic double. A win in Istanbul would see them complete the historic treble.

Pep Guardiola, Inter Milan, Simone Inzaghi, Romelu Lukaku, Erling Haaland
Pep Guardiola during a training session ahead of the Champions League final. Photo by Alex Livessey.
Source: Getty Images

Inter Milan might be the unfancied side here, but they have the wherewithal to hurt Pep Guardiola's side. Head Coach Simone Inzaghi is a cup finals specialist with a clean record of 8 out of 8. However, he will face a whole different prospect altogether in Europe's elite competition.

Champions League team news

Luckily for both teams and for neutrals, both coaches have a fully stacked squad to pick from. Kyle Walker missed training this week due to some back pain, but he has since returned. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is also facing a late fitness test but should be fit to feature in some way.

Manchester probable City line-up

Guardiola's side made light work of German opposition ahead of their run to the final. They finished first in Group G ahead of Borussia Dortmund before beating RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich in the round of 16 and quarterfinals stages, respectively. They then admonished the ghits of last season by seeing off record winners Real Madrid in the semis.

The Spanish manager has raised not to overthink this time around and thus, his new 3-2-4-1 formation is set to feature here. Walker has been solid in recent games, but Guardiola might have to choose between him and Nathan Ake.

Ederson; Dias, Walker, Akanji; Stones, Rodri; Gundogan, Grealish, De Bruyne, Silva; Haaland.

Inter Milan probable lineup

The Nerazzuri finished second in their group behind Bayern Munich before seeing off Portuguese sides Porto and Benfica in the round of 16 and quarterfinals. They then swept their cross-city rivals AC Milan to return to the Champions League final for the first time since 2010.

Mkhitaryan's fitness issues probably mean that Marcelo Brozovic will be deployed at the base of the midfield to allow Hakan Calhanoglu to roam forward. Inzaghi will also face the dilemma of who to partner Lautaro Martinez up front between Romelu Lukaku and Edin Dzeko.

Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Dimarco, Calhanoglu; Martinez, Dzeko

Acerbi not fearful of Haaland

Sports Brief has also reported that Francesco Acerbi will face a key battle against Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, one of the contests that will heavily influence the outcome of the match.

Both men have a height difference of two centimetres and are left-footed. Many defenders have come up against the City striker and fallen short, but the Italian is motivated differently - taking a cue from his previous battle with cancer.

The defender lost all elements of fear during his battle with testicular cancer about 10 years ago, while at Sassuolo.

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Martin Moses
Martin Moses is a sports journalist with over five years of experience in media. He graduated from Multimedia University of Kenya (Bachelor of Journalism, 2017-2021)
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