Inter Milan are once again in the final of the UEFA champion league. They won it under Jose Mourinho in 2010 and will be looking to win it for the third time in their history. The final is against Manchester City which will take place in Istanbul on 10th June 2023. City has been very good throughout the season; they have won the Premier League and are in the finals of the FA Cup and UCL. Let’s see how Inter Milan has reached the finals.
Group stage
In the group stage, they were drawn against Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Viktoria Plzeň. Bayern and Barca were favorites to make it out of the group, but Inter Milan had other plans. Bayern went perfectly in the group stage as they won all six of their matches. Barca and Inter were going to fight for the runner-up spot in the group. In the first meeting of both teams, Inter won 1-0 due to their very good defensive solidity. In the next matchday at Camp Nou, Barca needed to win but Inter came out of the match with a 3-3 draw. So, Inter Milan looked in a prime position to qualify alongside Bayern, and that is what they did exactly.
Knockout rounds
We will now move to the knockout stages where they faced Porto in the round of sixteen. One can say that they got lucky with the draw. Anyways, it was tough against Porto as Inter won with only a 1-0 aggregate over two legs, with Lukaku being the only scorer in the tie. When the round of sixteens concluded the whole bracket was drawn and on Inter’s side there were three Italian teams and Benfica, while the other side of the bracket had teams like City, Real, and Bayern. Napoli has been good this season and were favorites to go to the final, but AC Milan spoiled their party and knocked them out in the quarter-finals. Inter was drawn against Benfica and won 5-3 on aggregate. The first leg ended 2-0 to Inter and the second had six goals as the match ended 3-3. Next up, it was the semi-final clash with AC Milan. In the first leg, Dzeko and Mkhitaryan got the crucial goals to win 2-0. After that, Lautaro Martinez finished it off in the second leg, scoring in the seventy-fourth minute. That is how Inter Milan reached the finals of UCL. The match against City will be very exciting and we hope for a good game.
Expectations from the final
Pep Guardiola’s City is the favorite on paper but on the night, it is anyone’s game. If Lautaro can have a big game or Lukaku can clutch it will again be a disappointment for City. Inter also looks very confident as they have just won Coppa Italia and are in a good position to finish in the top four of Serie A. Sportsbooks have Man City as heavy favorites over Milan. They are expected to beat Milan by 2 or more goals.
