The biggest night of club football in the year is upon us.
The Champions League final 2023 has came and went, and Man City are the champions after they defeated Inter Milan in a tight encounter in Istanbul.
In the first half Inter surprised most by pressing high up on City, but what was unsurprising was their doggedness in defence – even their two strikers Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez were relentless in their tracking back.
The first half didn’t really offer up any clear chances apart from an Erling Haaland effort that you would normally expect the striker to put away.
Inter Milan were very aggressive and had success in frustrating Pep Guardiola’s team, but they couldn’t keep them out forever and in the 67th minute Rodri curled in a brilliant effort from outside the box.
Just moments later it looked like Inter had equalised when Federico Dimarco hit the crossbar with a header, and his second attempt with the rebound came off the heel of Romelu Lukaku.
The Italian’s must have felt that they were cursed when the ball trickled out of play as it really looked like a certain goal.
Lukaku did manage to manufacture a shot himself, cutting in on the right wing, but it was well hoovered up by Ederson who was still thanking his lucky stars that they still hadn’t conceded a goal.
Phil Foden had an opportunity to put the game to bed, but good goalkeeping by Onana meant that the Serie A team were still alive in this game.
Lukaku then missed the most golden chance you could dream up when he missed a header from point blank range, and forced an incredible save from the City keeper.
Man City won the game, won the Champions League, and in turn, won the treble, matching Manchester United’s success back in 1999.
Man City’s line-up team:
- Ederson – 10
- Akanji – 8
- Dias- 8
- Ake – 8
- Stones – 8
- Rodri – 9
- Silva – 7
- De Bruyne – 6
- Gundogan – 7
- Grealish – 7
- Haaland – 7
Inter Milan’s line-up:
- Onana – 8
- Darmian – 7
- Acerbi – 7
- Bastoni – 8
- Dumfries – 8
- Barella – 8
- Brozovic – 8
- Calhanoglu – 7
- Dimarco – 8
- Martinez – 6
- Dzeko – 7
Related links:
- “I was just trying to be humble!” Roy Keane almost talks himself out of City and United dream team
- David Beckham takes cheeky swipe at Man City when asked about the treble
- Calls for Cork City fans to get lifetime bans for ‘disgusting behaviour’
