Manchester City to face Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League 2022-23 final

The Battle of Istanbul is all set where Reborn Inter Milan takes on Unstoppable Cityzens.

Inter Milan reached their first Champions League final in 13 years as Lautaro Martinez's sole goal of the match gave them a 3-0 aggregate win against AC Milan on Tuesday Inter will undoubtedly be the underdogs against either Manchester City in Istanbul on June 10, but the way they managed both legs of this all-Milan tie suggests they will go down to any length to make sure Manchester City will have to fight for their maiden title. The key moment of the night at the San Siro came when Argentinian Martinez exchanged passes with substitute Romelu Lukaku and drilled a shot from inside the penalty area that Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan allowed in at his near post.

Manchester City on the other hand were most likely to win the competition since the quarterfinals and their performance against Real Madrid in both legs has just given the fans more confidence to bring the most eluded trophy finally to Etihad Stadium. In the first leg where City and Madrid both got their chances to dominate each other in each half of the game, the story in 2nd Leg was completely different.

A fantastic strike in 23 minutes by Bernardo Silva gave them the much-deserved goal after dominating the game for half an hour and soon enough he doubled their lead before the half time. The story remained almost the same in the 2nd half where the visitors struggled for possession and Eder Militao scored an own goal before Alvarez wrapped up the game and the tie. Los Blancos exit at the semi-final stage with a whimper as the English champions ease towards the Istanbul showpiece.

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History in the competition

Inter Milan: Winners – 1963-64, 1964-65, 2009-10

In 1964, Inter beat a Real Madrid side featuring Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo Di Stefano in the final to lift the trophy in their debut season. They managed to retain their title the following season, too and then it was a long wait for the blue side of Milan before Mourinho did the impossible and made them the treble winners.

1964 final: Inter Milan 3-1 Real Madrid

1965 final: Inter Milan 1-0 Benfica

2010 final: Inter Milan 2-0 Bayern Munich

Manchester City: Runners–Up – 2020-21

The most success in Europe for the City came in 1970 League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup victories were both achieved in the same season, making Manchester City only the second English club ( Leeds United was the first in 1968) to achieve a domestic cup and European cup double within the same year, and the first English club to do so within the same season.

Since the takeover in 2013, City has come from a top -6 team to the League challengers but was left disappointed when they were looking to take the most precious trophy home. The closest they came to in 2021 before Tuchel’s Chelsea stopped Guardiola’s men from reaching the promised land and who can forget the comeback of Madrid last year when Real Madrid did the impossible by scoring 2 goals in 5 minutes to knock them out.

2021 final: Chelsea 1 -0 Manchester City

Road to Istanbul

Inter Milan finished 02nd in Group C

Round of 16 – Inter 1 – 0 Porto (on aggregate)

Quarter Finals – Inter 5 – 3 Benfica (on aggregate)

Semi-Finals – Inter 3 – 0 AC Milan  (on aggregate)

Manchester City  finished 01st in Group G

Round of 16 – Man City 8 – 1 RB Leipzig (on aggregate)

Quarter Finals – Man City 4 – 1 Bayern Munich (on aggregate)

Semi-Finals – Manchester City 5 – 1 Real Madrid  (on aggregate)

Final details

Capacity: 76,092

When: The showpiece final will be staged on 10 June with 3pm (ET) start.

Kick-off: 8pm BST, 12:30 pm (IST)

The biggest game in European club football this season will take place at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium. This is the third attempt to hold the game at a venue following Covid-19-related issues over previous seasons in a stadium that is fondly remembered among Liverpool fans when the Reds staged a famous comeback in 2005 against Milan.

Reports across Europe this week have claimed that due to the upcoming presidential elections in Turkey, UEFA have informally reached out to Lisbon authorities over the possibility of again staging the final.

But the governing body have quickly sought to play down this prospect and have maintained their support for Istanbul to at long last stage the showpiece event. UEFA's statement reads: "Following some inaccurate and unfounded media reports, UEFA would like to clarify the position on the 2023 Champions League final. UEFA have commented on reports that the Champions League final could be moved from the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul for a third time.

"The 2023 UEFA Champions League final will take place in Istanbul as scheduled, on 10 June 2023. UEFA has no discussions to the contrary with any political institutions, governments or national football associations."