Champions League: Favourite Man City must be wary of Barella and Martinez
The stage is set, the stadium is ready, the Champions League trophy has been polished and we are now close to European football's showpiece event.
Manchester City and Inter Milan will go head-to-head in the Champions League final on Saturday night, and there is plenty on the line for both sides.
The talk of the week has been over whether Pep Guardiola's team can end their obsession and dream of winning European football's greatest honour after it has evaded them for so long. Undoing the heartache of 2021 by finally clinching the Champions League, and with it, a historic Treble, there is a lot riding on the game on Saturday for the Citizens.
Equally, Simone Inzaghi's side are out to win their fourth European Cup and end a 13-year wait for a Champions League title, with their last coming in 2010 under Jose Mourinho.
Below is how the two teams could line up for the match.
Manchester City (4-3-2-1) - Team Average 8.8
Ederson 9: Exceptional with his hands. Even better with his feet, as good as any midfielder. City feel safe with him in goal.
Kyle Walker: 8.5 No sulking when Guardiola questioned his tactical nous. Simply buckled down and got better. Looks undroppable now.
Ruben Dias: 8 City can send Stones into midfield because Dias is such a solid defender. He can hold the fort on his own.
Manuel Akanji: 8.5 What a steal at £15million. Just look at his stats: 39 starts, 15 clean sheets, two trophies, and maybe a third on Saturday.
John Stones: 9.5Clearly has a brilliant footballing brain. Others would have struggled.
Rodri :9 Guardiola snubbed his defensive midfielder in the 2021 Champions League final. He wouldn’t dare drop Rodri now.
Bernardo Silva: 8 The Portuguese playmaker has flirted with leaving City, though they are better with him.
Kevin De Bruyne: 8City’s chief creative officer. Inter will be petrified of De Bruyne because he is capable of magic in a millisecond.
Ilkay Gundogan: 9 The little man for the big matches.
Jack Grealish :9 The £100m man is ready for this final.
Erling Haaland :10 He’s made the Premier League look like an Under 10s division!
Pep Guardiola: 9.5 Two trophies down, one to go.
Inter Milan (3-5-2) - Team Average 7.6
Andre Onana: 7.5 Steady shot-stopper but needs to have the game of his life if he wants to shut out City.
Matteo Darmian: 7Former Manchester United full back who can help protect his old club’s 1999 Treble legacy. Pressure is on.
Francesco Acerbi :8 On loan from Lazio, Acerbi is an uncompromising and rugged defender, albeit not the fastest in a footrace.
Alessandro Bastoni :7 Lefty who is difficult to dribble beyond and has been studying how Real Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger stifled Haaland.
Denzel Dumfries: 8 How Inter deal with Grealish will be key and I’m sure we will see Dumfries dropping in to form a back-five barrier.
Nicolo Barella 8.5 Barella is box-to-box, brave and dynamic. He will be the most robust midfielder on show for Inter on Saturday.
Hakan Calhanoglu: 7.5 Calhanoglu has a good eye for a pass but I suspect City will suffocate Inter in the middle of the park.
Henrick Mkhitaryan: 7 Nice on the ball. We saw that in England. But the issue is that Inter will not see much of the ball.
Federico Dimarco :7.5 All energy on the left wing. He will drop back like Dumfries, but flying forward on the counter is key.
Edin Dzeko: 7Doesn’t get mentioned enough that he scored the QPR equaliser before the ‘Aguerooo’ winner — City will know he is dangerous.
Lautaro Martinez: 8.5 Scorer of 28 goals for Inter this season, twice as many as the next man. Elite finisher but needs service tonight.
Simone Inzaghi: 8 Stepping out of his brother Filippo’s shadow as a manager. Cup specialist is set for his biggest game.
