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Rob Dawson, Correspondent
MANCHESTER, England — That’s what UEFA had in mind when it revamped the Champions League. Instead of waiting until the knockout rounds for the ultimate showdown, the two top teams will compete in a new-look league format. The only thing missing from Manchester City’s 0-0 draw with Internazionale was a goal.
There had to be a few. Former Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan came off the bench and blasted Inter’s best chance over the bar. It was so good that manager Simone Inzaghi fell to the ground and started pounding the turf with his fists.
The Inter boss had already seen Mkhitaryan’s former Old Trafford team-mate Matteo Darmian try to backheel the ball to Nicolò Barella when everyone in the stadium expected him to shoot. The visiting side were not given many chances at the Etihad Stadium and the Italian champions were made to pay for their waste when Ilkay Gündogan had two close-range headers in the final minutes.
Ultimately, 466 days after they met in the 2023 final in Istanbul, both Inzaghi and Guardiola felt a sense of relief at not losing, even though they insisted their teams should have won.
“We played a really good game,” said Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
“I love my team. We are a fantastic team. Inter are a really good defensive team. They are masters of defense and transition.”
City haven’t lost a Champions League group game at the Etihad since going down 2-1 to Lyon six years ago. Under Guardiola, they have made a habit of easing through these early games and quickly turning their attention to the business side of the competition.
At least Inter have been reminded that the new league stage (including matches against other top seeds) will be more complicated to navigate. Inter arrive in Manchester as big underdogs, as City have done very well in the Champions League. But Inter are the best team in Italy for a reason.
With wing-backs Darmian and Carlos Augusto staying high and wide, Barella found space throughout the midfield and quickly passed the ball to Marcus Thuram and Mehdi Taremi. Guardiola watched the transition with his head in his hands. He was so fed up with Barella towards the end of the first half that when the Inter midfielder got the ball back on the halfway line, he threw his hands in the air and turned away in disgust.
That particular attack was only ended when goalkeeper Ederson made a fine save at Augusto’s near post. It was one of 10 shots Inter took in the first half. It was the first time an opponent had 10 or more shots in the first half of a Champions League match at the Etihad since AS Monaco in February 2017. When the half-time whistle blew, it was no surprise that Guardiola turned and ran down the tunnel, ready to take the lead as instructed.
His solution was to bring on Gundogan for the injured Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden for Sabinho, which allowed City to take some of the initiative and create their own chances.
Foden fired straight at Yann Sommer after a tricky move started by Jack Grealish, and Gundogan should have done better with two late headers. The first, from Josko Gvardiol’s cross, should have gone anywhere but the grateful gloves of Sommer. For the second time in Guardiola’s 42 home Champions League games, City failed to score.
Inzaghi later said the players had performed “tremendously”.
“I told them they did well, guys,” he said. “I told them to play exactly the way they did. We all know Manchester City and what they can do. We knew we had to give it our all and play a great game, and we did. We created some really good chances. When we work well as a team, it makes it hard for everyone.”
Inter’s performance, despite captain Lautaro Martinez sitting on the bench for 66 minutes, shows they are Champions League contenders.
But City have done the same in terms of giving back. They have reached the knockout rounds for 11 consecutive years and have looked vulnerable at times, but they have had chances to win and Guardiola is happy rather than frustrated. There will be little doubt that City will make it 12 in a row after Christmas. With UEFA’s new format, two of Europe’s biggest teams have met early and there seems to be enough to meet again when the competition reaches its peak at the Etihad.
“We conceded 1.5 chances and we didn’t create many chances because the team was defending so thick with 11 players,” Guardiola concluded.
“They help each other out really well. I’m happy with our performance, I liked everything. It’s early in the season, the display will be better and it will get better with time.”
