Manchester City vs Inter Milan, Champions League final: Everything ...

Manchester City’s hopes of becoming just the second English team to win the treble now rest solely on Saturday’s Champions League final against Inter Milan.

Having already lifted the Premier League and FA Cup trophies, triumph in Europe is all that eludes Pep Guardiola and his players — but Simone Inzaghi’s cup specialists stand in their way in the Istanbul final.

After winning the Supercoppa Italiani and the Coppa Italia, Inter have a treble of their own to win.

Here, The Athletic has all the details you need ahead of the showdown.

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The Champions League final is being played on Saturday, June 10. It kicks off at 8pm BST.

As the biggest game in UEFA’s calendar, it is the very last men’s game to be played involving teams in Europe’s major leagues.

The Europa League and Europa Conference League finals have already been played with Sevilla and West Ham taking home the trophies respectively.

Where is it?

The Champions League final is being played at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.

Liverpool supporters will be very familiar with that venue as it was the site of their famous comeback against AC Milan in the 2005 final.

It is the third time UEFA have attempted to stage the final in Turkey after it had to be moved in 2020 and 2021 — to Lisbon and Porto respectively — because of the country’s Covid-19-enforced travel restrictions.

There were some reports that it would, once again, be moved this season as UEFA were worried about civil unrest in Istanbul as a result of the outcome of the Turkish presidential election, which the governing body this week denied.

How will I be able to watch it?

The Champions League final will be shown on BT Sport in the UK.

In the US, it will be broadcast on CBS with streaming available on Paramount+.

Those without a BT Sport subscription will be able to watch the final on their YouTube channel free of charge.

You’ll also be able to follow with The Athletic’s live blog.

What is the team news?

Guardiola should have a full squad to pick from come Saturday evening.

Kyle Walker missed a training session earlier in the week as he has been suffering with a back issue, but he eased fears, saying: “I’m fine, I’m just getting old! I won’t be missing the Champions League final for anything.”

Inter also have a healthy-looking squad, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Milan Skriniar set to be included. Their only remaining issue concerns Joaquin Correa, who continues to struggle with a calf injury suffered last month.

What have the managers said about the final?

For Guardiola and most of the City squad, the 2021 Champions League final defeat to Chelsea will be at the forefront of their minds on Saturday.

The Spaniard was asked about that game in his press conference ahead of the final.

“I can’t speak for the players, some were there, some weren’t,” said Guardiola. “It’s a different situation.

“Two years ago isn’t long and of course we want to finish differently but we have to know exactly what we have to do. In terms of approach, what to do with and without the ball.

“We are used to it (being favourites). Why should it be more dangerous? Accept the role and go out there knowing the quality of the opponents. We accept what people say, no problem.”

Inzaghi claimed that, despite facing an imperious team led by one of the great managers, he and his players are not worried.

“I know we’ll meet the strongest team in the world at the moment,” said the Inter boss. “We face the best. We’re talking about a football match and with all due respect, I’m not afraid of anything.

“Guardiola is the best coach in the world and he has marked an era. We have respect, but we are proud to play in this final that we wanted with all our strength.

“It will be the last of 57 matches in which even the much-talked-about defeats have allowed us to get to where we will be on Saturday.”

How did Inter get to the final?

When the draw was made at the beginning of the season, very few football fans will have predicted Inter reaching the final.

They were predicted, by most, to fall at the first hurdle after being drawn alongside Bayern Munich and Barcelona in Group C.

However, two positive victories against the Spanish giants helped Simone Inzaghi’s side into the knockout stage with Bayern where they have been relatively comfortable in progressing past their three opponents.

Porto provided the sternest test in the last 16 before a pair of convincing aggregate victories against Benfica and Milan.

Group stage

Inter 0-2 Bayern Viktoria Plzen 0-2 Inter Inter 1-0 Barcelona Barcelona 3-3 Inter Inter 4-0 Viktoria Plzen Bayern 2-0 Inter

Last 16

Inter 1-0 Porto Porto 0-0 Inter

Quarter-final

Benfica 0-2 Inter Inter 3-3 Benfica

Semi-final

Milan 0-2 Inter Inter 1-0 Milan How did Manchester City get there?

When the pre-season Champions League odds are released, Manchester City always find themselves among the favourites despite their misfortune in this competition over the last decade.

That was the case again this time around and they have shown throughout the campaign why the bookmakers have given them so much respect.

They are yet to have been beaten in Europe this season and none of their opponents — in the group stage or the knockouts — have been able to land a glove on them.

Group stage

Sevilla 0-4 Manchester City Manchester City 2-1 Borussia Dortmund Manchester City 5-0 Copenhagen Copenhagen 0-0 Manchester City Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Manchester City Manchester City 3-1 Sevilla

Last 16

RB Leipzig 1-1 Manchester City Manchester City 7-0 RB Leipzig

Quarter-final

Manchester City 3-0 Bayern Munich Bayern Munich 1-1 Manchester City

Semi-final

Real Madrid 1-1 Manchester City Manchester City 4-0 Real Madrid Opta’s Champions League final stats This is the first ever meeting between Manchester City and Inter. Manchester City have only appeared in two previous major European finals, beating Polish side Gornik Zabrze 2-1 in the 1970 Cup Winners’ Cup final, before losing the 2021 Champions League final 1-0 to fellow English side Chelsea. Inter are featuring in their 11th major European final, the third-most of any Italian side behind Juventus (16) and AC Milan (14). It is their first since losing 3-2 in the 2019-20 UEFA Europa League final against Sevilla and only their second in the Champions League, winning 2-0 in 2010 against Bayern Munich under Jose Mourinho. Manchester City are looking to become the fourth different English side to win the Champions League, after Man Utd (1999, 2008), Liverpool (2005, 2019) and Chelsea (2012, 2021), which would be the most of any nation. The current total of three is the joint-most, along with Italy (AC Milan, Juventus, Inter). This is Guardiola’s fourth Champions League final (two with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, two with Man City in 2021 and 2023), with only Carlo Ancelotti managing in more (5). He is looking to win his third title, equalling Zinedine Zidane and with only Ancelotti winning more (4), as well as become the fifth manager to win the title with two teams, after Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, Josef Heynckes and Ottmar Hitzfeld. Inter have kept eight clean sheets in 12 UEFA Champions League matches this season, including five in six games in the knockout stages. Should they hold their opponents to a shutout here, they would equal the record for most clean sheets in the knockout stages in a single edition of the tournament (six – previously done by Arsenal in 2005-06). Jack Grealish has created 35 chances for Manchester City in this season’s UEFA Champions League, the most by an English player in a season that Opta has on record (2003-04 onwards) and most by any player since Dusan Tadic in 2018-19 for Ajax (37). Despite only playing 144 minutes and not starting a single game in the UEFA Champions League this season, Romelu Lukaku is the only Inter player to have either scored or assisted in every round they’ve featured in (goal in group stage, goal in round of 16, goal in quarter-final, assist in semi-final). The only player to start a Champions League final having not started a game prior to that in the season was Ryan Bertrand in 2012 for Chelsea. Having won the World Cup with Argentina in December, either Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez or Inter’s Lautaro Martinez could become the 10th player to win the World Cup and the European Cup in the same season having featured in both finals. The only previous players to have done so in the 21st century are Roberto Carlos (2002 with Brazil and Real Madrid) and Raphael Varane (2018 with France and Real Madrid).

(Top photo: Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)