Manchester City or Real Madrid will be installed as the favourites to win this season’s Champions League with either AC or Inter Milan waiting for them in the final at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
City are still searching for their elusive first European Cup, while Real Madrid have won the competition a record 14 times with five coming in the last decade. Carlo Ancelotti’s side are the reigning champions after defeating Liverpool last year.
The two sides cancelled each other out in the first leg of their semi-final at the Bernabeu, with Carlo Ancelotti’s free-flowing counter-attacking football and Pep Guardiola’s more methodical style producing a classic.
City’s form and performances levels since mid-January have been scary but Madrid’s heritage in the Champions League carries a will that is near unbreakable, as Guardiola’s men know all too well.
As much seemed apparent when Eduardo Camavinga drove through midfield to lay off to Vinicius Jr who hit a rocket past a helpless Ederson after City had dominated the opening half an hour of the tie.
But as City have done so often this season they found a way back into the game as Kevin De Bruyne hit a powerful low driven shot to give City the advantage ahead of the return leg at the Etihad.
However, City will be wary of Real considering their amazing comeback at the same stage last season when Rodrygo grabbed two goals in as many minutes to push the game to extra time, with Karim Benzema going on to score the winner.
How to watch the Champions League final
- Date: Saturday 10 June
- Kick-off time: 8pm
- TV Channel: BT Sport
- Live stream: BT Sport website, app and YouTube
City have added motivation this time as they could become the first English team to win the treble since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United managed it in 1999.
Meanwhile, an Italian side will contest the final for the first time since 2017 with both Milan sides looking to make an unexpected return to European football’s top table.
Inter have won the trophy more recently, beating Bayern Munich 2-0 in 2010 under Jose Mourinho, but AC Milan have the greater pedigree in the competition, winning seven titles compared to their city rivals’ three.
The last time these two met in the last four was 20 years ago in 2003, and a star-studded Milan side squeezed through on away goals, a method no longer used in European competition.
Their most recent meeting in the competition came two years later in the quarter-final stage of the 2004-05 campaign. Again Milan triumphed en route to the final, which they memorably lost on penalties to Liverpool, also in Istanbul.
If Stefano Pioli’s squad progress into the final as they will look to go better than the class of 2005 who raced into a 3-0 half-time lead, before letting it slip.
Italian sides once dominated Europe appearing five times in finals between 2000 and 2010 and eight times in the 1990s when Serie A was considered to be the pre-eminent division in Europe.
The Italian top-flight has waned in strength since then but with two clubs in the final four, this season may signal the start of its revival.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/5e0Uobm
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