Man City vs Inter Milan LIVE: Champions League result and reaction as hosts play out goalless draw
Manchester City 0-0 Inter Milan: Pep Guardiola’s side were frustrated by their Italian visitors
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Manchester City kicked off their Champions League campaign with a home stalemate against Inter Milan at the Etihad Stadium in a rematch of the 2023 final.
A tight affair left the hosts frustrated and unable, ultimately, to break down a strong defensive effort from the Italian side as Ilkay Gundogan squandered two late headed chances. Until then, Inter had looked largely calm and in control as they managed to stymie Manchester City in a 0-0 draw, continuing an unbeaten start to the season for the Milan club.
There was an injury worry for Pep Guardiola, though, as Kevin de Bruyne failed to re-emerge after the interval having appeared to sustain an issue late in the first half. The Premier League champions host likely title rivals Arsenal on Sunday and could be without their captain.
Each side take a point apiece from their opening outing in this newly revamped tournament format. Each side will play an initial eight game, with the top eight in the league table automatically qualifying for the next round and a further 16 progressing to the play-off round.
Re-live all the action from the Etihad Stadium with our live blog below:
Pre-match thoughts from Inter Milan boss
Simone Inzaghi, the Inter manager says his team ‘cannot wait’ to face Manchester City this evening and that the match will not be a repeat of the 2023 final.
Inzaghi said: “We cannot wait. This won’t be a rematch of that [2023] final, that was another story. It will be our first game in the league phase and we want to do our best.
“We know they are tough opponents – one of the best in the world. We need to play well in both phases, trying to help each other out. They have very skillful players.”
What is the new Champions League format?
Instead of 32 competing sides being divided into eight groups of four, all 36 teams in this year’s Champions League will form a single league. Each entrant will play four games at home and four games away for a total of eight fixtures, two more than under the previous format. These eight encounters will be with eight different opponents.
The top eight sides in the league after the competition’s first phase will progress directly to the last-16. Teams placed ninth to 24th will have to negotiate a play-off round, while teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated from all European competition.
The 36 clubs will be seeded into four different pots based on their individual club coefficient at the start of the season. Each team will face two sides from each pot, one at home and one away. Pot 1 will include defending champions Real Madrid and the other strongest club sides by Uefa coefficient.
Manuel Akanji concerned about extra workload
Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji has voiced his concerns about the expanded format of the Champions League this season.
City, the 2023 winners, begin their latest European campaign as Inter Milan visit the Etihad Stadium.
The Switzerland international said: “It’s getting more complicated with the league. You play different teams, and then Inter don’t have the same opponents as us. It’s just got bigger, more games.
“Then we have the Club World Cup at the end of the season. It’s just game after game and I don’t know how it will work out over the next couple of years.
“It’s so tough, you don’t just think about this season – but also next season. When do we do holidays? There are no breaks in winter.
“If we are lucky we get two weeks and then we need to be back and into next season. There’s no end to it. I don’t know how it works out. Maybe I’ll retire at 30!”
The new Champions League sets up a high-stakes game in football’s ‘turning point’
When Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin attends the first games of the new Champions League this week, it will be with a considerable security detail. This has led to grumbles from federation staff, especially since very few people outside football know what he even looks like. There have probably only been two moments when the Slovenian official was properly in the public eye.
One was when the Super League was launched in April 2021 and Ceferin admirably defended the spirit of European football in a defiant media appearance, all while lambasting executives as “snakes” and “liars”. Less publicised from that day was the fact Uefa were also in the process of approving the changes to the Champions League we are going to see enacted this week.
The new Champions League sets up a high-stakes game in football’s ‘turning point’
As the competition’s new format gets underway this week, there is a lot more at stake than who lifts the trophy at the end of the season
Where to watch every Champions League fixture on TV this week
Thursday 19 September
17:45 Feyenoord v Bayer 04 Leverkusen - TNT Sports 2
17:45 FK Crvena Zvezda v SL Benfica - TNT Sports 4
20:00 Atalanta BC v Arsenal FC - TNT Sports 1
20:00 AS Monaco v FC Barcelona - TNT Sports 2
20:00 Atlético de Madrid v RB Leipzig - TNT Sports 4
20:00 Stade Brestois 29 v SK Sturm Graz - TNT Sports 5
Where to watch every Champions League fixture on TV this week
Wednesday 18 September
17:45 AC Sparta Praha v FC Salzburg - TNT Sports 6
17:45 Bologna FC 1909 v FC Shakhtar Donetsk - TNT Sports 4
20:00 Celtic FC v ŠK Slovan Bratislava - TNT Sports 2
20:00 Club Brugge KV v Borussia Dortmund - TNT Sports 5
20:00 Manchester City v FC Internazionale Milano - TNT Sports 1
20:00 Paris Saint-Germain v Girona FC - TNT Sports 4
Team news - Inter Milan
Changes at the back for Inter Milan, with Yann Aurel Bisseck, Francesco Acerbi and Alessandro Bastoni all brought in to a new-look defensive trio from the draw against Monza. Lautaro Martinez is only on the bench.
Inter Milan XI: Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Zieliński, Carlos Augusto; Thuram, Taremi.
Team news - Manchester City
Erling Haaland, a goal away from 100 in a Manchester City shirt, starts up front with Pep Guardiola going with a strong side.
Manchester City XI: Ederson; Lewis, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Rodri; Savinho, Silva, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland.
A defensive midfielder winning the Ballon d’Or? Why Rodri’s win would be a historic moment
There has been one goalkeeper, Lev Yashin, and a trio of defenders, though Fabio Cannavaro was more of a stopper than the German midfielders, Franz Beckenbauer and Matthias Sammer, who were converted into sweepers.
But there has never been a defensive midfielder. The Ballon d’Or is almost seven decades old and Rodri, the man who earned Manchester City their first Champions League, could be a history maker in another respect.
A trophy that had seemed the private property of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for a decade and a half may have an unlikely winner. Rodri ranks as second favourite, behind Vinicius Junior, for a prize he never imagined he might secure.
A defensive midfielder winning the Ballon d’Or? Why Rodri’s win would be historic
No one in Rodri’s role has ever won men’s football’s most coveted individual award but the Spanish midfielder has earned the right to be considered the best player on the planet
‘It is impossible to sustain’: Rodri speaks out on increase to the schedule
The 28-year-old midfielder spoke about his already heavy workload to argue he is playing too much in light of the fixture schedule increasing with expanisons to the Club World Cup and Champions League.
He said: “From my experience I can tell you that 60-70 [games per season is right]? No. Between 40-50 is the amount of games in which a player can perform in the highest level, after that you drop because it is impossible to sustain the physical level.
“This year we can go to 70, maybe 80, I don’t know. It depends how far you go in the competitions. In my humble opinion I think it is too much. I think we have to take care of ourselves. Someone has to take care of ourselves because we are the main characters of this sport or business or whatever you want to call it.
“Not everything is money or marketing, it is also the quality of the show. When I am not tired I perform better and if the people want to see a better football, we need to rest just something to put in there. When the amount of games starts getting bigger, the performance and quality are lower. Lets see where football goes. I would prefer to have less games and a better quality show for the people, that’s for sure.”
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