Manchester City face off against Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League Final this Saturday in Istanbul, with City heavy favourites to taste European glory for the first time and Inter Milan looking for a repeat of their 2010 victory over Bayern Munich.
We caught up with Bet9ja Ambassador Victor Ikpeba, to talk about the psychology surrounding big finals, and how the match could hinge on a few key moments.
VI: Finals are always very dangerous to predict, and to say that City will win the Champions League is much the same. I remember two seasons ago every bookmaker around the world had them as favourites against Chelsea, and look what happened.
Of course City have been in great form domestically, with Erling Haaland scoring 52 goals and them winning the Premier League and FA Cup, but Inter are an experienced and tested side. Their domestic season hasn’t been perfect, but they did win the Coppa Italia.
City have a real chance at making history here by winning their first ever treble and have some amazing players, so I’d say that they’re favourites. Pep has an amazing way of making his players hit their groove at the right time.
In the semi-final Real Madrid tried to play toe-to-toe with City, which is very difficult. With llkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, they often have five or six players just in the middle of the park.
Inter would be sensible to play defensively and try to hit City on the counter, and they will definitely have chances at some point during the match. The danger of this is that if City score, Inter will have to change their approach completely and will leave themselves open to conceding more goals. Inter will be praying that City leave their scoring boots at home!
If this match goes all the way to extra time it will definitely favour Inter. CIty will want to score as quickly as possible to calm their nerves, and if they don’t there will definitely be a shift in momentum. For Pep Guardiola, this is a massive opportunity for him to equal Sir Alex Ferguson as the only manager in English football to win the treble, something that’s not happened for 24 years.
Finals always feel different. Inter can play with no pressure, even though they’re one of the biggest clubs in world football, they’re big underdogs, but that makes them dangerous. They will come with a gameplan and stick with it for 90 or 120 minutes and will hope that a bit of luck comes their way.
If we go back to 2010 when Inter beat Barcelona in the semi-final, Pep’s Barcelona side were playing all the football but Inter won. Guardiola will be wary of this, as he knows that Inter have more than enough quality to punish any team in club football. Italian club teams know how to win this sort of game, especially with their backs against the wall.
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