The whole world is waiting for the final of the 2023 UEFA Champions League set to be decided on Saturday at the magnificent Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey
No doubt, Man City is the overwhelming favorite for the title, they are everyone’s pick to rule the night and the reason(s) are not far-fetched. A squad that was assembled with a massive £886m, chasing a treble, and with an incredible manager like Pep Guardiola who has only lost 2 finals out of 11 finals should be seen as the best choice for the title.
However, there is something we call “Shocker in soccer”, we’ve seen underdogs beat favorites in football finals before, and it’s because I will be writing about 4 reasons why Inter Milan MAY shock Man City in Saturday’s final.
1. Inter-Milan is not the weak team – While many football fans think that Man City has a better squad having won the domestic double, Inter Milan should not be seen as a team Man City would just meet and beat anyhow. They earned their place in the final and should be respected on Saturday
Road to Final
* Qualified from the group that paraded Bayern Munich and Barcelona(they just won league titles in their respective countries )
* Beat 2022 Portuguese Champions FC Porto in the round of 16
* Beat Benfica in the QF – Benfica is the 2023 Portuguese Champions
* Beat AC-Milan in the semi-final twice with 2 clean sheets – AC Milan was the 2022 Serie A champions and sent out 2023 Champions Napoli in the QF
Inter beat the 2023 Europa Conference League finalist Fiorentina to win the Copa Italia.
Their goalkeeper Andre Onana has the highest number of clean sheets in the tournament, signaling how compact and stingy Inter defence has been so far
If you put all of these together and still think Man City will have an easy stroll over Inter, then you might just have a rethink.
2. History – The first time Westham United won the European title was in 1965, Inter Milan won the UEFA champions league that year. West Ham just won another European title and luck could shine on Inter again
The first time the final of the UCL was played on the weekend was in 2010, Inter Milan won it. Another final is here on a Saturday, history might just be kind to Inter once again
Since 2013, every champion of the UCL had a Croatian player. Bayer had Madzukic in 2013, Real Madrid had Luca Modric in 2014, Barcelona had Rakitic in 2015, and Real Madrid had Luca Modric and Kovacic in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Liverpool had Dejan Lovren in 2019, Bayern had Ivan Perisic in 2020, Chelsea had Kovacic in 2021 and Real Madrid had Modric in 2022.
Inter has Marcelo Brozovic in 2023 and it could be just what they need to win their 4th UCL title.
3. Inter is not under pressure – They are 3-time champions, they are the underdog in this final, and they have little or nothing to lose if they lost. Guardiola and his boys are the ones feeling the heat and are condemned to win their first UCL title after a heavy investment in the squad.
The last time Man City played the UCL final Jn 2021, they were the strong favourite against Chelsea but Guardiola’s “over Sabi” tactics lost in the game.
If Pep is not careful, the pressure of winning the elusive trophy might just overwhelm his boys
4. Ex-Manutd players might be spoilers – They said once a red devil is always a red devil. For Lukaku, Mkhitaryan, and Darmian who are ex-Man United players, they know the way they can stop Man City from equalling the treble-winning record of ManUnited in 1999 is to beat Man City in the final
Playing against City comes with extra motivation for these guys and they might just be “spoilers” in Saturday’s final
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