CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREVIEW: MANCHESTER CITY vs INTER MILAN

Greetings to all our readers and fellow Manchester City fans. Ahead of our highly-anticipated Champions League Final match-up against Inter Milan, we’re thrilled to welcome devout City fan and writer Laura Duncan to share her thoughts about the fixture. Give her and her writing account MCFC Thoughts a follow and dive into her words below: 

Here we go then. This is it. No more hiding from it now. Manchester City meet Inter Milan in the Champions League Final on Saturday night. My time of writing is Thursday evening for context and with 48 hours to go, the nerves are at an all-time high. It all started in the group stage where he faced Dortmund, Sevilla and Copenhagen. Then we faced Leipzig in the last 16, followed by German giants Bayern Munich in the quarter finals. That challenge was passed with flying colours and the challenge of Champions League royalty Real Madrid stood in our way. Mission complete. Manchester City, Champions League Finalists. As fans we’ve sung ‘on our way to Istanbul’ all season, with our chests out and hearts on our sleeve. It really is time to face the music, this is our time. 

It’s no secret that City are ultimately favourites going into this last dance. Inter Milan are a strong side but we’ve steam rolled past both of the previous European greats that stood in our way. I’d like to say the fact we’re the bookies favourites calms the nerves but it really doesn’t. The gap between winning and losing is huge. The players, the club and the fans are so set on winning this trophy, the last piece of the puzzle for Guardiola’s City dynasty and the stakes couldn’t be higher. I mean, if we come away as runners up, it doesn’t mean it has been a bad season. Premier League Champions when at one point, we were the under dogs. Additionally, another FA Cup under our belts, won in the best way possible. It wouldn’t be a season that goes down in history as a failure but this is simply something we all want so much. The high that would come from winning the Champions League for the first time means the low would hit even harder. It’s understandable why we’re all quaking in our boots. However, this team is, in the words of club legend Sergio Aguero, ‘different gravy’. We know how to win. We’re no longer the Manchester City side that plays with a false nine and no striker. We have an absolute monster leading the way. We’re no longer the Manchester City that leaks goals and has weak links in defence, we have Nathan Aké, John Stones, Rúben Dias, Kyle Walker and Manuel Akanji. We should be confident. This club is built differently and should we go on to win it, we absolutely deserve it. 

In terms of the starting eleven, we can probably piece 75% of it together ourselves. Ederson, Dias, Stones, Rodri, Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Haaland are all more than likely to start. That’s 7/11 accounted for. Two out of Aké, Walker and Akanji are likely to start. I’d personally like to see Kyle play and I’m happy with either Aké or Akanji to fill in at left back. Aké has been incredible but he has been out injured and we can’t deny that Akanji deserves his flowers. Then it’s a case of deciding the wingers: Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish or Riyad Mahrez. I have a good idea who I’d likely pick. Jack Grealish has had a stellar season but his form has dropped off ever so slightly. His run out at Wembley last weekend wasn’t his strongest performance. Riyad Mahrez hasn’t got much of a look in in recent times. However, we all know how clinical he is in front of goal and what he’s capable of. Bernardo Silva has been Pep’s go-to in the big games this season and it was his goals that sent City to Istanbul.. but he isn’t always the most clinical. Then finally, you have Phil Foden, our starboy. He’s had a stop start season and didn’t start at the weekend. However, I do feel that when he is playing at his best, he is our strongest winger. He looked phenomenal when subbed on in the FA Cup final and we do all know what he can do. My preferred front three is and has been for a while now, Grealish, Haaland and Foden. However, I am reluctant to want to see Bernardo dropped in the biggest game of the season…

The bottom line is, whatever team Guardiola puts out, I have 100% faith in. Our time is now. The 48-hour countdown is on. Time to make history. We’ve come a long way, and our Champions League journey has been a long one, years in the making. We’re on our way to Istanbul. Boys in blue, lets go.

Written by: Laura Duncan / MCFC Thoughts

Edited by: Sheikh