English club Manchester City beat Italian Inter 1-0 in the men’s Champions League final on Saturday. The Spanish midfielder scored the winning goal with a cool finish Rodri.
Urheilu’s football expert Miika Nuutinen states that Inter froze City’s football machine, which has walked over almost everyone this season.
City beat Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final 5-1 on aggregate, Bayern Munich 4-1 in the quarter-final and RB Leipzig 8-1 in the quarter-final. In addition, the team secured their triple on Saturday night, i.e. the Champions League, FA Cup and Premier League championships.
– If the final was thought to be one of the most uneven of all time, the game itself was completely different. It was an even football match, even a thriller of sorts. Inter had even better chances to win this game, Nuutinen estimated.
How did the match end?
Expert Nuutinen says that the picture of the game was as expected: City kept the ball, while Inter defended in a low block. Inter broke City’s game rhythm when the team played with a high press oriented to the player guard, but sometimes the Italian team ran the show with its goalkeeper André Onanan under.
– Due to the high pressure, City had to play a lot in their own half of the field from time to time in the opening period. And while Onana’s openings may not have resulted in many good breakthroughs, he kept City off the ball for crucial seconds and minutes.
According to the news, Inter initially managed to prevent City’s trademark strong start, but even after that kept the opponent out of the goal posts – until City’s winning goal. Inter also had their chances to score, but despite their top positions, were unable to score in the final match.
– This time the characters of the match were City’s defensive players (goalkeeper) Ederson’s in charge, and they are not the attacking players from whom it was expected, Nuutinen states.
He raves that Inter managed to succeed their head coach Simone Inzaghi in the lead in his match plan almost perfectly.
– With his match plan, Inzaghi changed the picture of the game to exactly what Inter wanted. In the end, the match was decided – as finals usually are – by those “small margins”. Still, Inter played a fantastic match without a goal.
What surprised you?
According to the news, it was known that head coach Inzaghi’s toolbox includes the above-mentioned means, i.e. high press and opening the game.
– The fact that they were so strongly involved in this final was a surprise, but at the same time a great success. With those methods, Inter broke City’s game.
A slightly bigger surprise was City’s head coach again Josep Guardiola match plan. According to the news, Guardiola is used to seeing very interesting match plans and such was also available on Saturday.
During the game, eyes turned to John Stones. Stones moved from England’s Everton to Manchester City in 2016. His signature playing position has been central defender in the past, but especially this season he has been playing in defensive midfield. Saturday night saw something new again.
– City had a structural change in the game plan in the final, when Stones was moved higher up the field all the way to the top pocket. Stones played from the opening minute there, and during the game it was interesting to see Guardiola constantly talking to Stones. The head coach told him to hang in there and trust that the balls would come. And when those balls came, Stones performed quite well.
Nuutinen described Guardiola’s decision as even comical, when Stones was the player who often had the opportunity to pass the ball.
– He was not able to create miracles from all of them in the game, but a good performance all in all.
With the change in Stones’ playing position, City’s player grouping was 3–1–5–1. According to the news, it was a logical change for the final, but City couldn’t make that game system work as well as it would have liked.
– City didn’t get everything out of their match plan. Still, the team was able to grind out that one trademark goal. Even though the picture of the game was not good, the attack and the goal were City at their best and they are facing Pep Guardiola trademark stuff.
What are we talking about?
According to the news, the Champions League final between City and Inter did not rise to the status of a classic match. The game was purely as the finals often are: a careful football match, where there were no treats at the goal posts.
– Those few top positions at Inter are still being reviewed and it will probably be stated that more would have been available.
Nuutinen believes that years from now, we may still be talking about City’s superiority in recent years, which now got its crown.
What happens next?
Josep Guardiola did last year with Manchester City extension contractwhich lasts until the summer of 2025. Also Simone Inzaghi agreement Continues with Inter until the end of next season. The roster naturally changes from season to season, but what else can be expected from the teams next season?
– City has changed something for every season, even though it has dominated sovereignly in its home country. For example, for this season Erling Haaland’s coming into the team changed City’s game. Even though Inter stopped the Norwegian in the final, he was one of the key elements why City was so good this season, expert Nuutinen estimates.
He reminds us that changes are required in football, because even weaker opponents find ways to play against the best. Despite Guardiola’s extension contract, Nuutinen is watching with interest what the Spanish pilot does now that the crown for the City era has now been achieved. Guardiola last won the Champions League with Barcelona in the 2010-11 season.
Nuutinen describes Inter as an interesting group, because the team did not play a top season in, for example, Seria A, the main league in their home country.
– Under Inzaghi’s leadership, Inter has specialized into this kind of cup team. Inter won the Italian Cup, the Supercoppa and also played in the Champions League final. It can be expected that with the same fins, Inter can be a tough contender in next season’s Champions League as well.