19 votes

UEFA Champions League: Inter Milan vs Manchester City

Posted by drdoofenshmirtz
Tags: ask.discussion, manchester city fc, inter milan, uefa.champions league

Do we have any football fans here that are following the Champions League? Who do you folks think will win?

For how successful Man City have been this year, I am hoping that they can secure the Treble. I still feel like Inter is going to give them a lot of issues.

I’m thinking a 2-1 win for City.

11 comments

  1. [5]
    throbbingpens
    Link
    Oof Kevin de Bruyne injured. I honestly thought Man City would steamroll Inter, but it has been much more even and close.

    Oof Kevin de Bruyne injured.

    I honestly thought Man City would steamroll Inter, but it has been much more even and close.

    5 votes
    1. [3]
      m4h4rg
      Link Parent
      Losing KDB could be significant, given how nervous City have been playing for the first half. Would love them to get the treble though, Pep deserve a CL final win!

      Losing KDB could be significant, given how nervous City have been playing for the first half. Would love them to get the treble though, Pep deserve a CL final win!

      3 votes
      1. throbbingpens
        Link Parent
        Hahaha I’m rooting for Inter this game. I’m an Arsenal fan and don’t want City to do the treble.

        Hahaha I’m rooting for Inter this game. I’m an Arsenal fan and don’t want City to do the treble.

        4 votes
      2. drdoofenshmirtz
        Link Parent
        KDB was going to be key to City winning this game. That narrow block that Inter sets up is difficult to break apart, and KDB’s passing was pretty much the only way I could see getting through it....

        KDB was going to be key to City winning this game. That narrow block that Inter sets up is difficult to break apart, and KDB’s passing was pretty much the only way I could see getting through it. City is doing a good job probing at it so far, but this is going to be tight.

        Inter can counter attack so effectively. I was glad to see Dzeko leave the pitch, but I don’t feel any easement with Lukaku coming on in his place.

        1 vote
    2. drdoofenshmirtz
      Link Parent
      I figured it would be a pretty close game, just because of how solid Inter’s defence has been this year. It’s going to be significantly more difficult with De Bruyne out. Inter defends really...

      I figured it would be a pretty close game, just because of how solid Inter’s defence has been this year. It’s going to be significantly more difficult with De Bruyne out. Inter defends really narrowly and it plugs up the middle of the pitch. De Brunye’s passing was pretty much the only way Haaland was going to get on the ball.

      Pep is going to have to be creative.

      1 vote
  2. [2]
    Parliament
    Link
    I suspected this final might be cagey and hard fought. Obviously hoping City don’t win the treble as a lifelong United fan! The longer this goes without a goal, the more Inter will grow in confidence.

    I suspected this final might be cagey and hard fought. Obviously hoping City don’t win the treble as a lifelong United fan! The longer this goes without a goal, the more Inter will grow in confidence.

    2 votes
    1. drdoofenshmirtz
      Link Parent
      Inter is really compact and solid defensively. It’s going to be a difficult game for City, especially with De Bruyne off injured. I’m a lifelong Bayern fan, so I’m cheering for City as they...

      Inter is really compact and solid defensively. It’s going to be a difficult game for City, especially with De Bruyne off injured. I’m a lifelong Bayern fan, so I’m cheering for City as they eliminated us. Well, that and it’s great to see Haaland having so much success outside of the Bundesliga. He is fun to watch from a distance when you don’t have to deal with him.

      1 vote
  3. [2]
    Mr_Cromer
    Link
    Well that's been an interesting half of football. Glad the city steamroller seems to have got some issues

    Well that's been an interesting half of football. Glad the city steamroller seems to have got some issues

    2 votes
    1. drdoofenshmirtz
      Link Parent
      Inter’s defence was always going to be a problem for City. Not having KDB anymore is going to make it really difficult to get through. This could be a really long match.

      Inter’s defence was always going to be a problem for City. Not having KDB anymore is going to make it really difficult to get through. This could be a really long match.

  4. [2]
    oracle
    Link
    0-0, halftime Rory Smith, NYT: Halftime analysis: Inter will be happier with that than City.

    0-0, halftime

    Rory Smith, NYT: Halftime analysis: Inter will be happier with that than City.

    The flags fluttering among Inter’s fans as the halftime whistle approached tell the story as neatly as anything else. Many, in that crowd, would have been keenly aware of the risk that this occasion might turn into a humiliation. Halfway through, that has failed to materialize. Inter, for 45 minutes, has neutralized Manchester City. That in itself is no mean feat.

    Inter’s age had been considered a disadvantage before the game; as it wears on, it may well prove to be. But for now, it has offered a case study to the benefits of age. Simone Inzaghi’s team has drawn from its deep well of experience to disrupt City’s rhythm any way it can.

    It has dawdled over free kicks, lingered over throw-ins, delayed play at corners. It has broken up play with a series of well-timed, niggling fouls. It has indulged in long spells of sterile possession. This was always the way it would have to try to close the gap on its opponent, and so far, it has worked.

    City has created only one real chance — Erling Haaland forcing a fine, reflex stop from André Onana — and, as time has worn on, its habitual swagger has waned ever so slightly. Even Pep Guardiola has noticed the anxiety creeping in to his players.

    “Relax, relax,” he urged them at one point, his arms spread wide, his face a mask of concern, a pot pointing out all of the flaws in the kettle.

    He is, though, right. The longer the stalemate lasts, the more the balance shifts ever so slightly toward the Italian team. City has already lost Kevin De Bruyne, its playmaker-in-chief, and though Phil Foden is a lavishly gifted replacement, it will feel his absence keenly.

    If Inter can resist what is likely to be a City surge at the start of the second half, the defining factor will not be how good City can be, how talented and how slick, but how well it can deal with the pressure, the risk, the jeopardy. Those are terms on which even this team might just be beaten.

    1. drdoofenshmirtz
      Link Parent
      That’s a really accurate description. I feel like we are going to be in for a really long match.

      That’s a really accurate description. I feel like we are going to be in for a really long match.

      1 vote