Kyle Walker, who plays for Manchester City, did not have the opportunity to start in the Champions League final on Saturday against Inter Milan. Instead, Nathan Ake was selected to take Pep Guardiola’s position in the Manchester City defense.
Edin Dzeko, a seasoned striker, and Lautaro Martinez, a dangerous winger, formed part of the predicted two-man assault for Inter that was fielded by Simone Inzaghi.
Ederson, City’s first-choice goalkeeper, was left on the bench for last Saturday’s triumph against Manchester United in the FA Cup final, during which Stefan Ortega played between the posts for City. Unsurprisingly, City has now moved Ederson back into the starting lineup.
Following the victory, City moved to within one game of matching Manchester United’s treble in 1999 under the leadership of Alex Ferguson.
Big favourites Erling Haaland, who has scored 52 goals in 52 games so far this season, will serve as the catalyst for City’s offense going forward.
Although the England defender has been bothered by a back ailment in the buildup to the game, the absence of Walker, who begins on a high-powered bench, was somewhat surprise. Walker would have started on the bench had he been selected.
Guardiola told BT Sport that it was “really tough” to make the decision because “Kyle is so important.” He was explaining the move. We need a different kind of player because of the manner we want to protect ourselves and attack the opposition.
“Italian teams are rivals in this competition.” The designs from Inter are exceptionally high quality. The manner that they play is quite obvious. They are extremely reliable and hostile all at the same time. They are most at ease when they are defending themselves. It is ingrained in Italian culture. I admire it.”
During his club’s unrelenting push in the last part of the season, Guardiola shown a tremendous deal of trust in his first-choice players, despite the fact that his strategies and team selection were called into question after City’s loss to Chelsea in the 2021 final.
On Saturday, it is predicted that Pep Guardiola’s team will have the most of possession, which will likely result in Manchester City playing with a four-man defense. However, it is possible that John Stones will play in the middle of the field.
Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan, who captains the team, will serve as the anchors for the midfield, and Kevin De Bruyne will serve as the playmaker for City behind Haaland.
Inter play in the tried and proven 3-5-2 configuration that has made them such a difficult nut to crack en route to the final. The back three of Matteo Darmian, Francesco Acerbi, and Alessandro Bastoni are set to have a busy night against Napoli.
Dzeko would break the record for the oldest player to score in a Champions League final if he were to reach the back of the goal at the age of 37.
Manchester City: 31-Ederson; 6-Nathan Ake, 3-Ruben Dias, 25-Manuel Akanji; 5-John Stones, 16-Rodri; 20-Bernardo Silva, 17-Kevin De Bruyne, 8-Ilkay Gundogan, 10-Jack Grealish; 9-Erling Haaland
Inter: 24-Onana; 36-Matteo Darmian, 15-Francesco Acerbi, 95-Alessandro Bastoni, 2-Denzel Dumfries, 23-Nicolo Barella, 77-Marcelo Brozovic, 20-Hakan Calhanoglu, 32-Federico Dimarco; 10-Lautaro Martinez, 9-Edin Dzeko