Eighteen years ago, a historic European Football Association (UEFA) Champions League final between Liverpool (England) and AC Milan (Italy) took place at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. After falling behind 0-3 at halftime, Liverpool rallied with three second-half goals to level the score and win the “big one” after penalty kicks.
Another Champions League drama awaits at the same venue. Manchester City (England) will try to repeat as first European champions.토토사이트
City will face Inter Milan (Italy) in the 2022-2023 Champions League final at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium at 4 a.m. on Nov. 11. Since being purchased by United Arab Emirates (UAE) ruler Sheikh Mansour in 2008, City has been a dominant force in Europe, winning the English Premier League in each of the last three seasons and seven more trophies since then. However, they have yet to add a Champions League trophy to their history. Two seasons ago, they reached the final but lost 0-1 to Chelsea (England) to end their bad luck.
Pep Guardiola has never reached the top of the Champions League since leaving Barcelona (Spain) with Lionel Messi. He hasn’t won the competition since the 2013-2014 season when he took over at Bayern Munich (Germany), despite reaching the round of 16 or higher every season.
Having won the league title and the FA Cup, a historic win in the Champions League would give City a “triple treble”. They will become only the second English club to win a treble, including the Champions League, after rivals Manchester United (1998-1999 season).
The presence of striker Elling Holland also raises expectations. Having scored 36 goals in his debut season in the Premier League, he is also the top scorer in the Champions League with 12 goals and looks set to continue his European dominance.
Despite City’s objective strength in depth, Inter Milan’s momentum cannot be ignored. The Nerazzurri are unbeaten in 12 games (W7 D5 L5) through the Champions League group stage and tournament combined. After finishing third in Serie A, the Nerazzurri are looking to win the Champions League for the first time since the 2009-2010 season.
After falling away from the top of Europe for a while, Serie A teams have shown signs of resurgence this season. They reached the finals of all three European club competitions (UCL, Europa League, and Europa Conference). However, AS Roma in the Europa League and Fiorentina in the Europa Conference finished as runners-up. The Nerazzurri are looking to repeat as Serie A Champions League champions, having last won the title in the 2009-2010 season.
The Nerazzurri will be counting on the goal-scoring prowess of Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), who has been strong on the big stage, scoring in both the Supercoppa Italiana and Coppa Italia finals. Martinez has scored 21 goals in the league. Martinez, who was capped by Argentina at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, will become the first player to win both the World Cup and UCL in the same season if he beats City.