It’s official! The 2022-23 UEFA Champions League final will see Manchester City face off against Inter in at Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on 10 June. UEFA, it turns out, got it wrong before the second leg of the Sky Blues’ semi-final against Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Inter and City’s paths to the Champions League final
Simone Inzaghi’s men cruised through to the final on Tuesday thanks to a comprehensive 3-0 aggregate victory over San Siro co-tenants AC Milan, an outcome which was never in doubt after they went two goals ahead early on in the first leg.
The heavyweight clash between City and Madrid looked as if it was going to be rather harder to call after an evenly-matched first leg in Spain, but Pep Guardiola’s men completed blitzed last year’s Champions League winners at the City of Manchester Stadium on Wednesday, despite Erling Haaland unbelievably failing to find the net.
How many times have Manchester City and Inter won the Champions League?
Inter have long been considered part of European soccer’s ‘elite’, having won the European Cup/Champions League on three occasions (1963-64, 1964.65 and 2009-10). City, of course, are a much more recent addition to that particular group of clubs and, after over a decade of trying, are going in search of their first ever victory in the continent’s top competition.
Manchester City vs Inter: the first time
But despite both teams sitting among the best in Europe, they have never actually played each other in European competition. This is the first ever season that both teams have made it past the group stages of the same edition, which has limited the chances of their paths crossing.
City and Inter have faced off in pre-season friendlies before, however, with the Italians winning 3-0 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in 2010, while the Premier League side won by the same scoreline in the Dublin Super Cup the following year.
There’s always a first time for everything and what a first time it promises to be.
