(Football news) The two teams butt heads for the first time since the 2023 Champions League final – their only previous European encounter – when Rodri scored the decisive goal in a narrow 1-0 victory in Istanbul to help the Citizens complete a historic treble.
Manchester City are the only Premier League team who boast a 100% record after four matches, but their perfect start to the new campaign was put to the test by a cohesive, hard-working Brentford side on Saturday.
The Etihad faithful were left stunned when Yoane Wissa capitalised on a mishap from John Stones to head the Bees in front after just 22 seconds, and although the visitors had numerous chances to extend their advantage, Erling Haaland’s ruthless finishing before the break was ultimately the difference in a 2-1 victory for the Citizens.
Haaland’s double turned the contest on its head just after the half-hour mark, increasing his impressive goal tally for the season to nine – breaking a new Premier League record in the process – as well as moving him onto 99 goals for Manchester City in just 103 games across all competitions.
Pep Guardiola’s side have now extended their exceptional unbeaten record at the Etihad to 46 games (W39 D7) and are now gearing up for three more home fixtures across three different competitions in the space of just seven days, following up Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Inter with Premier League and EFL Cup games versus Arsenal and Watford respectively.
Manchester City will be keen to make a strong start in the newly-expanded Champions League and secure a statement win over Inter; they head into their midweek showdown having not lost any of their last 23 Champions League matches and if they avoid defeat in their opening two fixtures of this season’s competition (against Inter and Slovan Bratislava on October 1), they will equal the longest unbeaten streak in the competition’s history set by rivals Manchester United (25) between 2007 and 2009.
After beating Lecce and Atalanta BC by an aggregate score of 6-0, Inter Milan were unable to claim their third successive Serie A victory last weekend, as they were forced to rescue a 1-1 draw away against Monza.
The Nerazzurri looked on course to suffer their first defeat of the campaign when Dany Mota headed the hosts into a surprise 81st-minute lead, but Denzel Dumfries came to the rescue for the visitors and netted an equaliser just seven minutes later to salvage a point for the reigning Italian top-flight champions.
Head coach Simone Inzaghi was “disappointed” with the result and rued the number of missed opportunities that his side had, particularly in the first half. His players are now tasked with picking themselves up for a huge double-header this week against Man City in the Champions League and against bitter rivals AC Milan in Serie A.
Inter head into Wednesday’s contest having lost only three of their last 20 Champions League matches (W11 D6). However, the Italian giants have only started one of their last nine campaigns in the competition with a victory.
Seeking revenge against Manchester City following their 2023 Champions League final heartache, Inter travel to Etihad having previously won away at four different English clubs in the competition (Newcastle United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool), and they are bidding to become the fourth team after Barcelona (seven), Real Madrid and Bayern Munich (both five) to win on the road against at least five different English teams.
Also read: UCL and the players who have won it the most number of times
