🏆 Champions League Final Full Preview 🏆 Can Inter deny Man City the treble? | ESPN FC

Meanwhile, Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said, We know what kind of match to expect tomorrow. We know what kind of match we have to play. We know Manchester City right now are probably the best team in the world. They've proved that and they have been defeated very few times. But we are aware of our Champions League campaign. We're proud of what we did and we will do our very best to play well in the final. We must have high concentration and we must make no mistakes. We have to do this because our opponents are a very, very strong team. We're going to welcome in Nadim Anouar and Gabriele Marcotti now. Both of them are in Istanbul. Both of them are in the hotel rooms at the moment, though. We'll give that away. Well, maybe Nadim could give us a bit of a feel of what the atmosphere actually is like in Istanbul and how the excitement's building. Yeah, I think from a city perspective, people have been sort of drifting their way in. There were a few that came in on the day when I came in on the Wednesday. And you can just see as it gets closer and closer to start to go together to the fan parks and there is a sense of excitement about this game. I think because it's Man City, the fans are reluctant to be overly confident. But quietly, I think they realise what everyone says is pretty true. There's a reason why City are favourites for the match. And they come in and in some ways, if they don't manage to win this, I think there will be a huge sense of disappointment. But I'll be honest, from a Man City perspective, as a fan, it's still very novel to be at a Champions League final. It's very tough to sort of take it for granted. I know that sort of gives off the impression of being a smaller club and the like. But in some ways, that's what City is. It's their second European Cup fight, second Champions League final, rather. And it's good to be here. But then all of a sudden you have the sort of feeling of how you felt when the game was over two years ago against Chelsea in Porto. And you just need to make sure that, you know, whenever they're leaving this country, that it's not going to be that same sort of feeling. But this is it now. It's the night before. And yeah, I'm very much excited to see the game tomorrow. How are the nerves laden? I'm all right for now. I'm all right for now. And it's just it's like two parallel storylines. If City don't win it, it's such a big story. But then if they do, it's historic as well. And you can see how much it means to the manager and Guardiola in the way he describes, say what it would mean. And then even for from the players as well, there's so many players who played in that final two years ago, you know, who probably had their worst game of that whole season. So a chance of redemption when everybody around you, you look around the team, they're all playing so, so well. It's a fantastic opportunity. They do arrive. Yeah, hey, there's a little update. Two arrivals have very heavy favorites, but it's Champions League final. This is so good. So good. Looking forward to it. Covering all these bases there. Yeah, a little bit nervous. Stevie's just happy it's not him this time around and he doesn't have to be worrying about it. It doesn't matter. Thankfully, he's not traveling. That's another nightmare scenario. Gav, let's talk through the predicted lineups that you've given us then, starting with Manchester City's. Yes, I think Manchester City a little bit more straightforward. We expect Ederson to come back between the sticks. I went for the 3-2-4-1, which seems to be what he likes. Either one question mark is, do you keep a Kanji in there now that Nathan Ake is fit and is a natural left footer? I imagine he's going to stick with a Kanji. But hey, it's bad. We never know. You do something wacky like drop Rodri again or play without a striker. He's done that stuff. I don't think he'll do it this time. Bernardo Silva out on the right. No surprise there. Some suggestion maybe Mares might be a better fit for this game. But again, I can't expect, I can't imagine he's going to tinker and throw a curveball because, you know, when you're that much stronger than the opposition on paper, there's no reason really to go and mess with it. The only variation might be it may be more of a traditional back four, depending how the game unfolds. And certainly it'll be more of a traditional back four when into attack. How are Inter looking, Gab? Look, they're playing with house money, right? They're saying all the right things. Again, I think this lineup is also pretty settled. One question mark was in midfield. You know, do we see Brozovic in there? I think we do. I think he's going to have a big role helping Acer be kind of in shielding and shielding Holland. Brozovic, probably more of the defensive player, maybe. I don't think he's more valuable in possession than Mkhitaryan, but he's certainly more of that traditional deep line playmaker. And Inzaghi is underscored how, you know, they don't they don't just want to sit and defend deep in their box and wait to try to hit on the counter. They want to they want to try to if they can keep some amount of possession, maybe pick up a foul of City Preston. The other question mark up front, Lukaku's been in great form. Does he oust Dzeko? I don't think so. I think Inzaghi likes the idea of maybe bringing on Dzeko at the hour mark and maybe City's defenders, who hopefully will be a little tired at that point. You know, we'll have to deal with with Lukaku's strengths, his directness and, of course, his his athleticism, which obviously is far greater than Dzeko at age 37. We'll definitely get into that point as well between Dzeko and Lukaku. But how can this inter-team best deal with this City side? Well, I'm kind of interested in City because I think the story is the change for Guardiola. I agree with that team from Gaben, I think Akanji's been excellent. Bernardo Silva as well. And I think maybe it's the first time, well, certainly in the last three months, but the first period of Guardiola's career where we're not guessing at the City side. Really not. I mean, all right, Gab's been asked to put the team together, but as he said, it wasn't particularly difficult. Whereas in seasons gone by, it maybe was more difficult to say, well, what's he going to do? He's going to change that. He's going to change that. He's kind of found these guys that are playing so well for him. All right, he's rotated in some of the smaller games, but in the bigger games, this has been his 11th. Bernardo Silva's been playing well. Grealish has been playing well. Obviously, Haaland speaks for himself. John Stone's gone into the middle, has been excellent. Walker, second half of the season, back to looking like his best. Has his Ruben Diaz, the Akanji signing. So I think really what City have got away from what they were very good at, which was tinkering and changing and making people think to being consistent within the team selection for big games. And I actually think that has helped them this season. And I would not expect, barring any of illness or injuries, that that City side will be any different from that 11 that Gab's put up. Stevie? Well, it's picked itself. Every single player in that team that Gab's put up, by their performances, have basically said, you can't not play me. Every single one of them. You can't argue with any of those decisions that we think that certainly Gab thinks is going to play. You can't. The form, the way they've all played together, the pairings, you know, defensively. I mean, Ederson probably is the only one that he's pretty much had not a lot to do recently. But everybody else, the 10 outfield players, absolutely, by their performances, have basically made, picked them. No question. They're up against a front two. Will that change anything defensively for City? I don't think it will. You know, the way I see the game going, they're not going to end up with two up front. One of them is going to have to drop back in. And I would assume that would be Dzeko, because I don't think he'll start Lukaku, because they're not going to get a lot of possession of the ball, particularly at the start of the game, I don't believe. And Lukaku, his 40 isn't holding the ball up, letting people come in. You know, his 40's open spaces, using his pace, using his strength. So I don't foresee it being a straightforward 3-5-2. I think you're going to see 5-4-1, as opposed to having the two up front. So I think they're not going to be that many occasions when City are going to deal with two up front. But if they have to, then Stones will be back in there. And then once they get the ball back, Stones will be back in the middle of the park. So I just don't see it being a problem for them. I think Inter will quickly become a five at the back. Very quickly. Because there's not a snowball chance they're going to come out and try and push the wingbacks on and go toe to toe. I wouldn't imagine. They've got good wingbacks, by the way. They've got energetic wingbacks, pacey wingbacks, strong. But they're probably going to end up a five. Then they'll have to figure out the problem of the middle of the park and the wider areas. And they'll probably just... And Zaghi, I would imagine he's going to say, look, as he said in his interview, we need to do the basics. We need to be switched up. We need to defend well and frustrate Manchester City. To some sense, Man United did something like it in the cup final. They did not play well, but they kind of frustrated City a little bit. They were totally outplayed and almost nicked a goal at the end to take it to extra time. So I think the ploy will be for Inter to defend deep, defend with numbers and hit on the counter when they can. I don't see this game being any other way. That's definitely the key, how deep they go. Because if they go too deep... Martinez and Dzeko are not running away from anybody. They're not. And if they go too deep, you're talking about 60, 70 yards between winning the ball and getting near Ederson. So they can't go too deep. Their problem is not being too high, because if you leave space, then Haaland's going to kill you. So that, to me, is going to be the key for Inter. Where the starting line is, not too deep and not too high. What's the game plan then, Gab, for Inter? Yeah, I think actually it's a bit what Stevie said. You know, certainly the expectation. Inter haven't defended particularly deep this season. When they have done, like I'm thinking of the Porto game, they've generally been pretty poor at it. I think they feel comfortable keeping a more of a medium defensive block. It is true that that leaves space behind for Haaland to run into. But then they're also very confident in Onana's ability to come off his line and kind of act almost as an additional sweeper, if need be. I think their sense is that if they sit back and defend, you know, it's death by a thousand cuts against City, because at some point they will get a breakthrough, whether it's a set piece or Haaland monstering somebody or De Bruyne or Gundogan, you know, a shot from the edge of the area. And then, you know, then it becomes really, really difficult. So I know it's easier said than done. But if they allow City to push them back, then I think Mancini will feel, Mancini, sorry, Zaghi, will feel that, you know, they're not going to do anything in this game and they're just going to hang on. And that's that's not the situation that they want to be in. They want to get their wingbacks involved, especially Di Marco down, down that left hand side and kind of always have the outball to him to try and then move the rest of the team up the pitch. With the focus on Erling Haaland, he's been talking about the pressure that's on him coming into this Champions League final. Obviously, whenever we talk about him, we mentioned that he was brought in to help the side win this trophy. He says, of course, I feel pressure. I would lie if I said I didn't. You say it yourself and it's true. They won the Premier League without me. They won every trophy without me. So I'm here to try to do a thing that the club has never done before. And I'll do my best. He's only scored once in the past seven games. Any concerns for you, Nadeem? No, no concerns whatsoever. I think there have been certain aspects of those games where he's played particularly well for the side, where there's been with his movement, his hold up play, he's had a few chances and the goal scoring might not have been there. But then in those last seven games, they've ended up winning a Premier League title and FA Cup. And now here they are on the verge of winning the Champions League as well. So it's not really a concern for me. And I think for such a young player, I think he's so, so well driven. He understands the moment, understands the history and understands. Like he talks about, I think he said his first Champions League final that he really felt was in 2008. And he was dreaming of being a part of one. And now here he is. One of the best professionals in all of football, from what I can hear. And yeah, I expect him to play well tomorrow. Whether he scores or he doesn't, you know, he'd be ashamed if he didn't. But for him, the biggest thing is just winning that game itself. And I think he's going to do everything he can to make sure that he has a huge impact upon that. Stays patient, makes the right runs, links up the play in whatever way he needs. Clears the ball from set pieces, whatever. And yeah, that's one of the reasons why the players love having him at the football club. And for myself, watching him from the sidelines as well, he's just a fantastic professional. Just to backtrack slightly before we get to Helen and what Gab was saying, which is the intentions of Inter might be to play higher. But sometimes you don't have a choice. Sometimes you just get pushed back off the wave or wave. It's a bit like a boxer who's talking a good game and then comes out in the first round and wants to be on the front foot and takes a pounding to the nose for about a minute and then just backs into the corner. So it is going to be interesting. I think that is one of the intriguing things is how will Inter be able to affect City and will they be able to push City back or will they end up retreating and not because they want to do it? We shall see tomorrow. The Helen stuff is, I think the thing with City at the moment is, is yeah, he's the sort of big marquee guy that, you know, big occasion. This is what he's brought in for all these goals he scored. But this is the real big moment. I get that. But the thing with City is they're getting the goals and they're getting a threat from everywhere at the moment. You know, even Alexis Rodriguez, even John Stone's getting forward, but particularly Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne, who are just picking up some of the most fantastic positions that is making it so difficult. When you think about Grealish and Silva maybe floating a little bit, particularly Silva. Jack Grealish has been, he's been liking the feisty one on ones with whoever it is, Carvajal or Wan-Bissaka. But when you've got Silva maybe floating a little bit and then you've got Gundogan's movement and De Bruyne's movement, it is really difficult as a midfielder to pick your position. We saw Casemiro last week and Fred and Ericsson getting dragged all over the place, particularly during that second half. And it just lets City get so much space. So there are so many intriguing match-ups in this game. But yeah, I suppose Haaland will be the big talking point, but he doesn't look like somebody that gets nervous to me. People like Haaland don't get nervous about the occasion. That's what, you know, people talk about the Champions League final and it's the occasion and people like him don't get... The pressure that he says he's feeling is his own internal pressure to do well. It's got nothing to do with whether it's the Champions League final or the FA Cup final or just a regular league game. He has a certain pressure that he puts on himself every time he steps on the field, regardless of the occasion. So he thrives in these things. He doesn't feel pressured. He doesn't feel scared. He can't wait. I think the most pressure is on the City manager. Not because he's not a great manager. He is. Not because his teams don't play great football. They do. But he constantly gets this great Barcelona side rammed down his throat with the Champions League success that he didn't have at Bayern and he so far hasn't had at City. And he wants to get that out of the way. As much as he wants to win for his players and his supporters, he wants to get that burning question out of the way. Are you going to win it outside of that Barcelona side? Without Messi. Without Messi, that's the big time they bring up, right? And this is... Look, I say it's a great opportunity. It is an opportunity. There's no divine right to turn up. You can have a bad day at the office and enter a big threat going forward. They generally score a lot of goals, depending on their possession in the game. But the manager is, as much as any of the players, trying to get this off his back big time. Gab? Yeah, I agree with that. I was surprised when Pep came out. Because I'm sad that way. I've been watching Pep's Champions League conferences all season long. And he always says the same thing, which rationally and analytically, I agree with him. He says, well, the way we're judged is by consistency of performance in the league. And our goal is just to get better every year and so on. And the Champions League is one game. Anything can happen, blah, blah, blah. But then when he came out, he said something's going to be missing if we don't win the Champions League. This is something I hadn't heard him say before. And maybe it is him being honest, but I think it does ratchet up the pressure on him. And it's almost like saying, well, if we don't win it, we're going to be back next year. No, no, no. He wants to win it now. He wants to win it this year. And, you know, he's brought this additional pressure onto himself by choice. Because people like me who try to look at it, maybe in our own sad, rational, non-player way, say, you know what? It doesn't matter. Champions League is a knockout competition. We're going to measure you. But what you do week in, week out. What you do week in, week out has been exceptional. But he's added that element into the mix. And he's talked about how it puts more pressure on his own players. But evidently, he feels that this is what they need right now. And this is what they can handle. I think it says an awful lot. So for him playing this Champions League final, he'll probably feel a sense of pressure with it, with his contract going down the way that it is. And the fact that he's lost in his previous two, I believe. But, you know, these are really experienced players who are very much ready for the moment. And as the guys were saying before, you look through that city side, it kind of picks itself because everybody's playing so well. Not least of all, the captain Anil Kaigunua. It's not... You know, the dice is rolling your way when you shin one in the FA Cup final from 20 yards. Right, don't it? Although David De Gea didn't do great, but he's been super. How could he possibly not? How could he possibly be leaving? I mean, you think about it. How could you possibly... He's a captain as well. Not only is the guy in great form, not only is he scoring huge goals, important goals, but he's the captain. And you don't make the best team on the planet, you don't make somebody the captain unless you hold them in the highest regard. Not just on the field, but off the field. But it's possible that this guy, this could be his last game. That makes no sense. Yeah, his future is up in the air, Gab. What's the latest? Well, they're all being coy about it. They said they're not gonna talk about it until after the Champions League final. I take on board what Stevie says, but equally, at his age, City don't give long contracts. And I'm not suggesting it's just about money, but I think it's also about maybe moving into a different kind of environment, maybe having another experience while his legs still allow him to do it. He's won a ton at City. Maybe he thinks, hey, I'll win the Champions League here, I'll win the treble. Job done. Now on to different challenges. Would he change his mind if somehow, and likely as it seems to all of us, City don't win tomorrow? Maybe. That must be the modern player, Craig. Maybe he's just fed up with the fish and chip shops in Manchester. That must be the modern player that wants a new experience. I think personally, I would prefer to keep winning, would you not? Maybe he could go somewhere else and get other winners too. Pardon? Maybe he'll go to another club that are winning things too. Well, let's be honest, what's the chances of that? Against Manchester City, a team that's probably going to win three trophies this year, and who are going to be favourite to win four next year. But you're going to leave a team like that for a new experience? That doesn't add up to me. And I get that some players are like that, but that doesn't make any sense, does it? A new experience? Elwick, you don't like, well, we all know you don't like new experiences. What? It's change, not for me, Dave. Change? I don't like change. No, thank you. If he wants to live in another country, I don't know. With all respect, the climate in Manchester and the North West is not the greatest. The football is. I mean, it can't, I mean, one of the other players that seems to be continually mentioned with a potential move every summer is Bernardo Silva. Let's talk about him because I know how much you love this player. Well, I like him a lot. The regular way, in tight spaces, stuck in a corner with, you know, a couple of men around him is just amazing, the way he drops his shoulders. And I just, you know, I think there has been points of his Man City career and even this season early on, when, you know, it was a toss up between him and Mahrez. And, you know, but the last, I don't know, whatever, weeks, couple of months, there's not really been an argument. Although Mahrez scored the hat-trick in the FA Cup semi-final, it was Sheffield United. And we're talking about elite level games here. He has been, and he's a different player on the right side to what Jack Grealish is on the left. So there's a kind of combination and a balance here of different players on the wider areas. And I just think that makes for a great balance within the city side. And so, Gab, how's his future looking? Because we've heard him being linked with other clubs as well, Barcelona being one of them. Yeah, the Barcelona link, of course, dates back to last summer. Look, the reality is, with Barcelona's financial situation, I, you know, despite what the Catalan media comes out with daily, I don't see that happening unless, unless again, you know, they win the treble. Bernardo Silva says, I've been here a long time. I want a new experience. I want to be the main man. I want to want to play number 10. I want to play in the middle, whatever, you know. And he's willing maybe to go and move and perhaps take less money. You know, what we do know about Manchester City is, and Pepe said this, he's not going to keep players who don't want to be there. And, you know, even players who've been great servants, he's not going to go and give them new contracts just because they've been great servants, right? You can ask Raheem Sterling about that or Zinchenko or Gabriel Jesus, right? There's always a standard that he pushes to. And, you know, sometimes players, as they near age 30, they may feel, all right, I've been here a long time. I want to go and do something different. I'd be very surprised if he moves to Barcelona this summer, frankly. And you're going to see some of those leaders step up, the people who've been doing it for so long, like, I think it's been a club five, six, seven years now. So he's very much settled. He's happy. He's playing some great football. He's got a chance to lead his team. And as is the case of most of these players, win their first Champions League and win the first one for the football club. And I think they all understand the gravity of that. I think going back to what Guardiola was saying about the pressure, I think he really understands the gravity of what that would mean for the team, for the people who've been along that journey. And De Bruyne's another prime example of that. I think he'd be ready and willing to go in the final. I think he's probably got bad memories from the last final against Chelsea with his, I think, with his cheekbone being fractured and the game being as bad as it was. So this guy's going to be so motivated. He's been in a hostile environment so far this season. And yes, I think De Bruyne's probably going to step up. I wouldn't be surprised if he scores tomorrow and, yeah, breaks down in tears because it could mean so much. You know, Craig was talking earlier on about how, you know, the theory is that your defensive lane is 30 yards from goal or 40 yards, whatever you want to be, however you draw up on the board. And Craig was talking about, well, sometimes it doesn't go that way because the opposition force you back. And that's the problem when you're playing against Kevin De Bruyne. Because if you want to have a certain point where your defensive line is, if you're one of the center backs and he's on the ball, you are absolutely in turmoil because the one thing you want to do is take a step back because this guy can drop a ball anywhere he wants. And you're scared of him dropping in behind you for somebody like Haaland or for Grealish to come inside or for Silva coming inside. And so automatically Kevin De Bruyne has made more space for everybody. He's made more space for himself to pick a pass. And he hasn't done anything yet. So when Craig was talking about that earlier, that's exactly what I was thinking about. How do you keep a line when Kevin De Bruyne has got the ball at his feet because you're scared to go too high? So you automatically will take a step back, which in itself causes a problem because it gives City more space. Yeah. So this is this has been one of the big talking points, as you know, in Italy, we're all tactical nerds and people have talked about this endlessly. And I think Craig's Italian was spot on. Everybody has a pen until you get punched in the face. Right. I think that's a Mike Tyson quote. The plan, some people have suggested, is actually to deal with... So Bastoni is going to play on the left of the back three. And the thinking is you shield Haaland, you put a Cherbion Haaland, hopefully he gives them the Rudiger treatment and rattles him a little bit. He'll be shielded by Brozovic in front and Onana coming off his line behind. What you don't want is Haaland, because even Haaland plays badly or misses chances. His movement causes so much havoc. He takes two or three guys with him. You want to free up Bastoni to be able to step up forward, not into midfield, but for those situations when Kevin De Bruyne makes a run, when Bernardo Silva comes inside. That's the thinking. And that is how, on paper again, and this may not work on the night, the idea is this is how you don't get sucked back. Now, obviously, it's a gamble because you don't want to leave 35-year-old Acerbi on his own with Haaland, if you can help that. But to have that flexibility in your back three, where it's not just three dudes standing in a line, but to give that license. probably will end up, you know, doubling up with Dumfries on Grealish. That's more of a one-on-one job. You're putting a lot of responsibilities on these guys. The midfield has to help. But this is the plan anyway to avoid getting sucked back. Now, obviously, that plan can be busted open. But to answer your question, they're aware of that. And this is how they're going to try to counter it when they're off the ball. On the ball, I don't think you're just going to see a bunch of long balls to Jekyll, although that's the obvious out. But the idea is, all right, try to take on the press, try to win free kicks, try to gain time, try to give your whole team, your whole center of gravity of the team, give it time to move up the pitch. I think this is what he's drawing up. And, you know, whether it works or not, we'll see. Advantage Manchester City before the ball's kicked. Because you've got one manager who we've just said is just going to, doesn't even need to look at his team sheet. It does it itself. The way they play does it itself. And you've got the other team in the Champions League final who are going to be doing something they haven't done all season. No, they have. Sorry, sorry, sorry, Stevie. Stevie, this is the big difference. Sorry. No, no, this is important. All season long. I mean, part of, Inzaghi's not a football genius, but all season long, the hallmark of this inter-team is him making adjustments during games. They're very accustomed to this. It's not like he's giving them a game plan that they've never seen before. And they haven't played anybody's game plan. How many times have they done this? How many times has Bastoni been asked to step from the back line into the middle to pick somebody up in Serie A? How many times has that, I mean, if it's happened before, I'll give you twice maybe. And even if it's twice, it's absolutely advantage Manchester City. Because you're forcing the opposition and to do something that is not natural to them. And it's a Champions League final. Has to be advantage City. Well, yeah, but the reason you're making these tweaks is because you want to try to mitigate that. It's advantage City anyway, because they have far better players and they have a better coach and they're a better team. So, but relative to other teams who always play the same way, you know, Inter haven't deviated from their 3-5-2 all season, but the way they've interpreted that 3-5-2 has been very, very different. And you've seen Bastoni stepping into midfield when they're on the ball and adding in possession. He's got a great left foot and whatever else. He does tailor and tweak his approach to the opposition. So I think they are pretty accustomed to doing this, but they're obviously not accustomed to doing it against Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva and all these superstars. But from that perspective, you know, what's the alternative? Go out there and no tactical instruction and say, hey guys, just play whatever way you like. And then, you know, sit here 4-0 up by half-time.