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Inter Milan have come away from the Etihad with a huge point against Manchester City at the start of their Champions League campaign in the new format of the competition. It was obviously an important clash between the reigning Premier League and Serie A champions, and though City were considered favourites to triumph after four straight victories in the English top flight, the affair remained goalless.
The teams
City boss Pep Guardiola arranged his men in a 3-2-4-1 formation. The trio of Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol formed the back line ahead of goalkeeper Ederson Moraes. Young Rico Lewis joined Rodri at the base of midfield. Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva were deployed further up as the main creative force, flanked by Savinho and Jack Grealish, while Erling Haaland, having scored nine goals in the four Premier League matches, led the line upfront.
As for Inter, coach Simone Inzaghi went with a rather flexible 3-5-2 shape, easily turned into 5-3-2 when need arose. With Yann Sommer in goal, Alessandro Bastoni, Francesco Acerbi and Yann Bisseck formed the last line of defence. Matteo Darmian on the right and Carlos Augusto on the left, were the two men which slotted either side of the defensive trio when out of possession and quickly moved into the midfield line with the ball belonging to their team. Piotr Zielinski, Hakan Calhanoglu and Nicolo Barella were in the middle of the park, while Mehdi Taremi got the nod ahead of captain Lautaro Martinez to partner Marcus Thuram in attack.
The game
No-one will have been surprised with the fact that City dominated possession with 60% throughout the game, but Guardiola’s men head notable difficulties while trying to break through the resilient lines of their opponents. But it was interesting to see them struggle to create proper chances for a long time.
They did manage to cause the visitors problems on a few occasions, though. In the first half, Haaland got the better of Acerbi…
Source link : https://www.soccernews.com/manchester-city-0-0-inter-milan-talking-points-as-nerazzurri-pass-etihad-test/376134/
Author : Veselin Trajkovic
Publish date : 2024-09-19 17:43:26
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