Champions League: Manchester City are in the Champions League final for the second time in their history. With two trophies already in the bag, they will be trying to win against Inter Milan this Saturday. Even though history is not on their side, Ashley Westwood suggests their current form will prevail over them. He also says the best way for Inter Milan to get one-up on Man City would be to get them in the counter-attack. He has further discussed Inter’s possible lineup and Man City’s performance in the FA Cup final. Follow UEFA Champions League LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
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On Man City’s performance in FA Cup final
Man United were able to keep Man City under pressure during the FA Cup final. However, Westwood suggests Man City were not playing to their 100% strength. Man City were focused on the Champions League final. Hence, their performance in the FA Cup final will not reflect their performance in the Champions League final.
He said, “I think Man City we’re just playing in second and third gear. If I’m being honest, I think this Champions League was on their mind… because the prize and the history is so big, I think they played within themselves trying to save energy tried to reserve energy… to offer us the final game of the season and I expect them to be on all cylinders firing quickly, getting bodies forward and showing a different performance from what they showed against Manchester United in the cup final.”
On Manchester City defying history:
In recent times, Manchester City have come close a few times to winning the Champions League for the first time in their history. The closest they came was in the season 2021-21. They lost the final 1-0 to Chelsea. However, Ashley Westwood believes Man City will defy history this time around.
He said, “I don’t think history will provide too much indication, this time. They haven’t got a great history… but even if we look at, you know, the last four or five years, they’ve been qualifying regularly for the latter stages… I think the past losses would have made them learn which they have… and I just feel that they’re in a great place and they’re in great form… they look fully strong to get the job done.”
On Inter Milan’s possible lineup:
Inter Milan have successfully won their last three games by narrow margins. However, they have also managed to win the Coppa Italia in late May. Hence, they have managed to line up the perfect XI by now. Westwood suggests that they will keep the same lineup with only Dumfries and Dimarco moving back to form a back-five line.
He said, “They’ll defend in numbers, back five, three midfielders take to that and just try and nullify Man City’s, you know, very, very poignant attacking threat that they have and I don’t expect them to change too much of that into Milan… You know, they beat AC Milan twice, in obviously, the two semi-finals, and that was with the same side. I don’t think they’ll change that.”
On Inter Milan’s chances of getting ahead of Man City:
Inter will have to work hard to stop in-form Man City captain Ilkay Gundogan, semi-final star Bernardo Silva, and scoring machine Erling Haaland. They will have to work harder to take a lead against Man City. Westwood suggests the best way for Inter to get them will be in the counter-attack. He said, “It’s [the solution] certainly going to be that [counter-attack] because Man City will dominate possession. they’re certainly going to have to be fast in transition because once one city retreat into their shape, they are very hard to break down.”
Watch the LIVE coverage of UEFA Champions League 2022- 23 final: Manchester City vs Inter Milan on Sony Sports Ten 2 (English), Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi) & Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels on 11th June 2023 from 12.30 am IST.
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