The English Football Champion Manchester City and Inter Milan face off this Saturday in the final of the Champions League opposite in Istanbul. Here you will find all the important questions and answers.
Who is favorite on Saturday?
Clearly Manchester City. The star ensemble around the Norwegian force of nature Erling Haaland is ahead of almost all bookmakers and experts, Inter Milan are only given outsider chances. The English Master and FA Cup-Winner can win the title with the triumph in the premier class-triple perfect this season. Inter finished third in the Italian league and won the cup.
Where will the final take place?
At the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul. The anticipation is four months after the severe earthquake in Turkey “tarnished”as former Bundesliga professional and final ambassador Hamit Altintop said, “but despite everything: the people here love football and are looking forward to this event.” At the last one so far Champions League-Final in Istanbul 2005 the fans were treated to a spectacle: FC Liverpool triumphed on penalties against AC Milan after being 3-0 down at the break.
Have Man City and Inter already won the Champions League?
For Manchester City, a win would be the long-awaited first triumph. Inter, on the other hand, have won the most important European club competition three times, the last time so far in 2010 in the final against FC Bayern Munich.
What are the fans saying?
In Europe’s organized fan scene, the sympathies should be clearly distributed. “Many football fans would certainly take a critical view of Man City winning the Champions League”said Martin Endemann from the fan organization “Football Supporters Europe”.
On the one hand, this has “various investigations into alleged breaches of financial regulations” to do, Endemann explained: “On the other hand, many fans are already critical of clubs that are de facto owned by countries with dubious human rights records.” So it would be “Something like a turning point if one of these clubs, after several unsuccessful attempts, would win the Champions League title this time”.
It would be for the “Our Curve” fan interest group “a victory dishonestly bought through financial doping”as representative Dario Minden said: “Man City is symbolic of the sell-out of football and the sport’s inability to protect its socio-cultural value. It’s just a chasing after money.” Man City owns the City Football Group with main shareholder Abu Dhabi United Group. Since the sheiks joined in 2008, the former middle-class club has spent an estimated two billion euros on transfers.
What does the final mean for Pep Guardiola?
Almost everything. Due to the championship title and the cup victory, the season is already here “unbelievable”, but something would be missing without the Champions League coup, Guardiola admitted. With FC Barcelona, the Spaniard has won the premier class twice – thanks to a then outstanding Lionel Messi. After that, however, Guardiola tried in vain to tackle the pot with FC Bayern Munich and Man City. The accusation was often made against the mastermind after important games: coached. Should the 52-year-old also lose this final with a team that is clearly better on paper, his image as a genius coach will be seriously damaged.
Which players do you have to watch out for?
Especially on Erling Haaland. Man City got him from Borussia Dortmund as the missing piece of the puzzle for the Champions League win last summer. Team-mate Ilkay Gündogan is also the center of attention after his gala appearance in the FA Cup final, especially as it is his last game for the “citizens” could be. The contract of the German national player expires, there are numerous interested parties. For the Turkish national player Hakan Calhanoglu, formerly also on the ball for Hamburg and Leverkusen, the final is in Istanbul “a dream” and “magical”. According to UEFA, if they win, the Inter playmaker would become Turkey’s first Champions League winner.
Why is the referee the focus?
Szymon Marciniak is considered one of the best in his field, but before the finale the Pole’s performance off the pitch caused a stir. It became public in the media that Marciniak had attended an event hosted by politician Slawomir Mentzen from the right-wing nationalist and Eurosceptic Konfederacja party as a guest speaker. UEFA decided against a replacement because the referee had apologized and assured that he was unaware of the connection to the far-right movement. The pressure on the FIFA referee, who officiated at the World Cup final in Qatar between Argentina and France, is likely to be greater than usual.
How did both clubs get to the final?
Manchester City edged out Borussia Dortmund, FC in the group stage Seville and FC Copenhagen through. The team defeated RB Leipzig in the round of 16, Bayern Munich was the opponent in the quarter-finals and Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
Inter finished behind Bayern in the group stage but ahead of FC Barcelona and Viktoria Pilsen in second place. The team defeated FC Porto in the round of 16, defeated SSC Napoli in the quarter-finals and prevailed over AC Milan in the semi-finals.
Where can the game be seen?
The final on Saturday will be broadcast live on free-to-air on ZDF at 9 p.m. Claudia Neumann is scheduled to be the commentator, with ex-world champions Per Mertesacker and Christoph Kramer analyzing the events as experts.