Manchester City sealed a historic treble with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League Final. We analyse the key stats from the encounter.
Sergio Aguero, 93:20, 13 May 2012.
Rodri, 67:31, 10 June 2023.
The two most iconic goals in Manchester City’s history – the former securing their first Premier League title, the latter completing a feat only ever achieved once before by an English club.
Man City are finally European champions.
Rodri’s beautifully shaped strike in Istanbul was enough to seal a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final, writing this City team and himself into the history books.
Legendary status awaits for both, with Pep Guardiola’s side becoming only the second English team to ever win the league, FA Cup and European Cup/Champions League in a single season.
The Treble.
For weeks, fans and pundits alike have discussed what City needed to do to be considered up there with the greatest teams in English football history, but Saturday’s victory will have firmly put such conversations to bed.
It was by no means a walk in the park. Inter were stubborn, frustrating City in the first half. They reached the break having had just four shots, only managing fewer in the first halves of two matches this season.
Their cause wasn’t helped by the forced withdrawal of the injured Kevin De Bruyne before half-time, whose appearance in the 2021 Champions League final against Chelsea ended in similarly disappointing fashion.
Even with him on the pitch, however, City struggled to get Erling Haaland involved. Although the Norwegian striker tested André Onana just before the half-hour mark, until that point he had managed as many touches in his own box as Inter’s (one).
He ended the game having had just 18 touches, the fewest of any player to feature for 90 minutes in a Champions League final since at least 2003-04. Haaland was the player supposed to bring the Champions League trophy back to the Etihad Stadium, but in a way, Rodri was arguably the perfect man for the moment that proved decisive.
The Spaniard completed more passes under pressure than any other player in the Champions League this season before the game. His finish exuded the same kind of composure, as Rodri coolly passed into the bottom-right corner when Bernardo Silva’s cross fell kindly.
Talk about passing under pressure.
Inter’s response was good. Federico Dimarco hit the crossbar and then headed his rebound against Romelu Lukaku, who then missed a sitter – cue flashbacks to his 2022 World Cup nightmare against Croatia.
Ederson was then forced into a tremendous late save as City’s lead came under threat, but they got the job done, securing footballing immortality for the 2022-23 vintage and becoming the fourth English club to be crowned European champions, more than any other nation.
Premier League champions. FA Cup winners. European champions. City have finally won the lot, making Guardiola the first manager in history to win the treble with two different clubs.
You are watching history in motion, a team and manager who we’ll look back on as up there with the greatest ever.
On this page below, you’ll find the Opta chalkboard tool, which enables you to do your own analysis on this year’s UEFA Champions League final. From kick-off, you’ll see all the match data populate in the chalkboards, allowing you to analyse metrics from goals, assists, shots, passes, tackles and interceptions for every player in both line-ups.
Underneath the chalkboards, you will also see our live match coverage, as it happens.
Man City vs Inter Milan Timeline
21:56: Manchester City Win the Treble
Manchester City defeat Inter Milan 1-0 in the 2022-23 UCL final and seal a historic treble. They become just the second English club to win the trio of top-flight league, FA Cup and European Cup/Champions League in the same season since Manchester United in 1998-99.
Man City finally win the Champions League and Pep Guardiola wins his third UCL title as a manager after previous successes in 2009 and 2011 with Barcelona.
With this victory, this is the sixth time that an English team has beaten an Italian team to win a major European trophy, with each occasion coming against a different team (also Juventus, Roma, Parma, Milan and Fiorentina).
The last four UCL finals have ended 1-0, more than the previous 27 finals since the rebrand of the competition in 1992 (three).
21:27: GOAL FOR MAN CITY!
The stadium stood still as the ball rolled slowly into the path of Rodri. The Spanish international made no mistake with a brilliant measured finish with his right foot into the back of the Inter Milan net. That’s the 12th goal scored by a Spanish player in a Champions League final (since the rebranding in 1992) – four more than players of any other nationality.
Seven goals have been scored in UEFA Champions League finals at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, all seven have come at the same end of the pitch.
Manchester City haven’t lost a competitive match from a winning position since the 2-1 defeat to rivals Manchester United on 14 January.
Advantage City. The last three UCL finals have all finished 1-0. Is the treble going to happen?
20:55: 0-0 at Half-time
It’s not been a classic, this. Inter have worked incredibly hard off the ball to frustrate Man City, and it’s worked a treat.
City have struggled to find any rhythm in possession and haven’t been able to get the ball into dangerous areas. Of their 61 competitive games this season, this is one of only 10 where they’ve had fewer than 10 touches in the opposition box in the first half. Their half-time expected goals total (0.36) is also their eighth lowest in all games across 2022-23.
20:36: De Bruyne Off Injured
A huge, huge blow for Man City. Integral midfielder Kevin De Bruyne exits the pitch in the 36th minute of the game with a hamstring injury – the second UCL final that he’s had to come off injured.
Back in the 2021 final, the Belgian exited the pitch on the hour-mark with City already 1-0 down to Chelsea. One (very small) positive is that City aren’t behind in this match, so aren’t requiring some KDB magic to get them back on level terms.
De Bruyne’s exit means that he’ll finish the 2022-23 campaign with 28 competitive assists – that tally is the most of any Premier League player in all competitions this season.
20:28: Haaland Chance
Haaland finally gets some service, and he forces a smart stop from André Onana. Before that shot he’d had as many touches in the Inter box (one) as he’d had inside his own.
20:25: Cagey Opening
It’s been an impressive start from Inter Milan, who have frustrated Man City with their excellent work rate off the ball. City have had more possession (62% vs. 38%), but haven’t been able to find dangerous areas of the pitch. Erling Haaland’s been starved of service, making a game-low four touches of the ball in the opening 25 minutes of the game – but this is arguably when he’s at his most dangerous.
Pep Guardiola’s side have completed just two passes into the opposition box, and one of those was a long cross-field ball to the edge of the 18-yard area.
20:00: Kick-off in Istanbul
The game begins, as Man City chase that famous treble.
19:45: Pre-Match Reading on Opta Analyst
With 15 minutes left until kick-off, make sure you get clued up before the match.
We’ve looked at the threat Erling Haaland poses to Inter Milan tonight, with the Man City striker looking to add to his 52 goals in all competitions in 2022-23. Could he even become the first player to score a hat-trick in a UEFA Champions League final?
Ollie Hopkins looked at the problems that Inter Milan could cause Man City tonight.
Some expect Manchester City to run riot in Istanbul tonight, so we’ve looked at the biggest UCL final wins in history.
Of course, if Man City do win tonight, they’ll have completed the treble. Which other European clubs have done this before? We’ve got you covered.
18:55: Starting XIs Announced
Unlike in 2021, when many thought Pep Guardiola overthought his line-up only to lose the final 1-0 to Chelsea, the Spanish head coach doesn’t really pull any surprises tonight.
The only player who may have been expected in the starting XI but misses out is Kyle Walker, who is on the subs bench.
Erling Haaland is looking to add to his 52-goal tally in his final match of 2022-23, while Kevin De Bruyne needs two assists to reach an incredible tally of 30 across the campaign in all competitions.
İlkay Gündoğan becomes the first German player to captain a non-German side in a European Cup/UEFA Champions League final.
For Inter Milan, former Man City striker Edin Džeko makes the starting XI. This means that Romelu Lukaku is left on the bench – he is the only Inter player to have either scored or assisted in every round they’ve featured in so far in the 2022-23 UCL. If he’s continue that run, he’ll have to do it as a substitute, tonight.
The average age of Internazionale’s starting XI is 29 years and 105 days – the oldest for a team in a UEFA Champions League final since Real Madrid in 2017-18 (29y 108d). Indeed, six of the eight oldest starting XIs in UEFA Champions League finals have been by Italian teams.
18:45: UCL Season So Far – Inter
Inter’s passage to the final hasn’t been quite so emphatic, with Bayern beating them home and away in the group stage, which also pitted them against Barcelona.
But since then, Simone Inzaghi’s men haven’t lost in six knockout games, seeing off Portuguese duo Porto and Benfica in successive rounds, before beating bitter rivals AC Milan 3-0 on aggregate to reach Istanbul.
Few would have expected the Nerazzurri to get this far at the beginning of the season, particularly given they were drawn into a group with Bayern and Barcelona. Yet, here they are.
Underdogs? Certainly, but who’s to say a shock is beyond them?
UCL Stat Leaders
Goals: Edin Dzeko (four)
Assists: Federico Dimarco (five)
Chances Created: Hakan Çalhanoglu (17)
Minutes Played: André Onana (1,080)
18:30: UCL Season So Far – Man City
It’s generally been a straightforward route to this point for City – at least, that’s how they’ve made it look. FC Copenhagen, Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla posed few issues in the group stage, then RB Leipzig were swept aside with remarkable ease.
City won that last-16 tie 8-1 on aggregate thanks to an incredible Haaland-inspired 7-0 demolition of Leipzig in Manchester. The Norwegian striker scored five times, including a first-half hat-trick.
Another German side awaited in the quarter-finals, but Bayern barely laid a glove on City either, with Guardiola’s side winning 3-0 at home in the first leg to give Die Roten a huge task back at the Allianz Arena. They couldn’t bounce back.
City then blew away defending champions Real Madrid in the semi-finals, that 4-0 thrashing at the Etihad Stadium in the return leg providing a chilling reminder of just how good they are.
Now just one hurdle lies in their way. Can Inter do what no other team has this season and beat City in the Champions League?
UCL Stat Leaders
Goals: Erling Haaland (12)
Assists: Kevin De Bruyne (six)
Chances Created: Jack Grealish (35)
Minutes Played: Rúben Dias (958)
18:00: Man City vs Inter Milan Stats (Pre-Match)
• This is the first ever competitive head-to-head between Manchester City and Internazionale. It’s the first time the first competitive meeting between two sides has been in a UEFA Champions League final since Liverpool faced AC Milan in 2005, also played at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.
• English and Italian sides have met in four previous European Cup/Champions League finals, with Liverpool always the English team in the final previously. They won the competition on penalties in 1984 versus Roma and 2005 against AC Milan and lost the 1985 and 2007 finals against Juventus and AC Milan respectively.
• Manchester City have only appeared in two previous major European finals, beating Polish side Górnik Zabrze 2-1 in the 1970 Cup Winners’ Cup final, before losing the 2021 UEFA Champions League final 1-0 to fellow English side Chelsea.
• Internazionale are featuring in their 11th major European final, the third-most of any Italian side behind Juventus (16) and AC Milan (14). It’s their first since losing 3-2 in the 2019-20 UEFA Europa League final against Sevilla and only their second in the UEFA Champions League, winning 2-0 in 2010 against Bayern Munich under José Mourinho.
• Manchester City are looking to become the fourth different English side to win the UEFA Champions League, after Man Utd (1999, 2008), Liverpool (2005, 2019) and Chelsea (2012, 2021), which would be the most of any nation. The current total of three is the joint-most, along with Italy (AC Milan, Juventus, Inter).
• Internazionale are only the fourth side to reach the UEFA Champions League final after losing their first game of the season, along with AC Milan in 1994-95, Bayern Munich in 1998-99 and Tottenham in 2018-19, all of whom lost their finals. In the European Cup, the two teams to win the title after losing their first games are Real Madrid in 1965-66 and AC Milan in 1968-69.
• Internazionale boss Simone Inzaghi will be the sixth different Italian to take charge of a team in a UEFA Champions League final (after Ancelotti, Capello, Lippi, Di Matteo and Allegri); the joint-most managers from a single nation to do so, along with Germany (six).
• The Atatürk Olympic Stadium is the eighth stadium to host more than one UEFA Champions League final, with this its first since the 2005 final, which ended 3-3 between Liverpool and AC Milan before Liverpool won on penalties. The only other time Istanbul has hosted a major European final was the 2009 UEFA Cup final (won 2-1 by Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Werder Bremen), at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.
• This is Pep Guardiola’s fourth UEFA Champions League final (two with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, two with Man City in 2021 and 2023), with only Carlo Ancelotti managing in more (five). He’s looking to win his third title, equalling Zinedine Zidane and with only Ancelotti winning more (four), as well as become the fifth manager to win the title with two teams, after Ancelotti, José Mourinho, Josef Heynckes and Ottmar Hitzfeld.
• Internazionale have kept eight clean sheets in 12 UEFA Champions League matches this season, including five in six games in the knockout stages. Should they hold their opponents to a shutout here, they would equal the record for most clean sheets in the knockout stages in a single edition of the tournament (six – previously done by Arsenal in 2005-06).
• In the UEFA Champions League this season, Manchester City have recovered the ball and initiated their sequences of play at an average of 47.2 metres from their own goal – the highest up the field of any team. Internazionale, meanwhile, are the team who have done so the closest to their own goal (38.4 metres), among sides who progressed from the group stage this term.
• 59.8% of Internazionale’s pressures in the UEFA Champions League this season have been applied in their own half, the highest percentage of any side to qualify from the group stage. Indeed, of the 32 teams in this season’s tournament, the Italian side rank 24th for pressures applied in the final third per game (103.5).
• Jack Grealish has created 35 chances for Manchester City in this season’s UEFA Champions League, the most by an English player in a season that Opta has on record (2003-04 onwards) and most by any player since Dusan Tadic in 2018-19 for Ajax (37). Grealish has also carried the ball the furthest distance of any player (3,208m) – indeed, it is more than Inter’s top-two most prolific ball carriers combined (Nicolò Barella, 1,558m & Alessandro Bastoni, 1,228m, combined 2,786m).
• Erling Haaland has scored 12 UEFA Champions League goals this season for Manchester City, the joint most by a player for an English club along with Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2002-03 for Man Utd. He’s failed to score in his last two appearances in the competition, never before going three consecutive games without a goal. The last Norwegian to score in a Champions League final was Ole Gunnar Solskjær in the 1999 final for Manchester United.
• Despite only playing 144 minutes and not starting a single game in the UEFA Champions League this season, Romelu Lukaku is the only Inter player to have either scored or assisted in every round they’ve featured in (goal in group stage, goal in round of 16, goal in quarter-final, assist in semi-final). The only player to start a Champions League final having not started a game prior to that in the season was Ryan Bertrand in 2012 for Chelsea.
• Based on the quality of shots on target faced, Internazionale’s André Onana has prevented the most goals of any goalkeeper in the UEFA Champions League this season (7.8 – nine conceded from 16.8 xG on target). Indeed, he could equal the record for most clean sheets by a goalkeeper in a single UEFA Champions League campaign (currently on eight), last achieved by Édouard Mendy in 2020-21 (nine).
• Man City midfielder Rodri has completed more passes under pressure than any other player in the UEFA Champions League this season (681). Indeed, among all players to attempt 300+ passes while under pressure, only Marco Verratti (91.7%) has a higher completion rate than Rodri (91.3%) this term.
• Alessandro Bastoni has made 100 line-breaking passes in the UEFA Champions League this season, the most of any player for Internazionale. In the tournament overall, two of the only three centre backs who have made more than him this term are Manchester City players (135, Manuel Akanji and 127, Rúben Dias).
• Having won the World Cup with Argentina in December, either Manchester City’s Julián Álvarez or Inter’s Lautaro Martínez could become the 10th player to win the World Cup and the European Cup in the same season having featured in both finals. The only previous players to have done so in the 21st century are Roberto Carlos (2002 with Brazil and Real Madrid) and Raphaël Varane (2018 with France and Real Madrid).
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