What a dragon and phoenix chick! Wasting a great opportunity + blocking a teammate's goal, Inter were pitted by Romelu Lukaku
Perhaps when Kevin De Bruyne was substituted in the first half due to injury, many Manchester City fans felt a sense of foreboding, recalling the Champions League final defeat to Chelsea two years ago. But this time when Guardiola was no longer alive, when Manchester City had a clear card advantage, Rodri's goal allowed them to achieve a third consecutive title.
And for Inter fans, when they see a high and a fast combination, Wolong Lukaku and Phoenix Lautaro taking turns to waste opportunities, it is still a familiar feeling, a familiar taste!
When Manchester City in the sprint stage, has surpassed Arsenal to dominate the Premier League, in the Champions League to defeat the opponent to achieve revenge, in the FA Cup final "thrilling" defeat Manchester United, come to Istanbul to face Inter, whose paper strength is obviously worse than them, Manchester City is the side widely favored by the world before the game.
But since Inter can reach the Champions League final, it shows that their fighting power is also not to be underestimated. In this game, Manchester City played far from as smoothly as the outside world expected before the game; Not only did De Bruyne leave early with an injury, but throughout the first half they barely created any chances that could threaten the opponent's goal. On the other hand, while creating no chances, Manchester City's defense also sounded the alarm from time to time.
In the first half, Ederson's passing error gave the opponent a big gift; It's just that Barrera faces the big empty door, and there are more long-distance hanging shots.
In the second half, Inter were the first to get the perfect chance. Manchester City's mispass at the back made Pep Guardiola on the sidelines to his knees; But Lautaro hit the goal from a small angle, which was parried by Edson.
Throughout the second half, it was Inter who got more of the best chances.
In fact, in the whole game, Manchester City's good opportunity was only Rodri's once, but they took it. After conceding the goal, Inter had two excellent equalisers.
Di Marco's header hit the crossbar with the first stroke, and the second header was already a must-score opportunity, which was blocked by "pestle king" Romelu Lukaku in front of goal.
In the final stage of regular time, Inter used a long pass to find the empty space of Manchester City's defense; When Gosens' header crossed in front of goal, Romelu Lukaku was unmarked in the small penalty area and headed the ball over Ederson in the face of most of the empty goal.
In the last leg of the game, Inter's corner kick also created chaos in Manchester City's penalty area; But when Manchester City finished the breakaway and the referee blew the final whistle, they finally got the big ear cup they wanted.
In fact, in the past few seasons, every year when the Champions League started, Manchester City was the favorite; Especially in the last two or three years, they are the number one favorites.
It has long been the favourites to win the Champions League, so in the eyes of many, it is only a matter of time before Manchester City win the Champions League trophy. Compared with Manchester City's aspiration to the top, Inter can reach the final and create a seemingly impossible miracle in itself.
Before the start of this season's Champions League, no one would have thought Inter would reach the final, and many even doubted that they would qualify from the group. But in the "death group", they beat Barça to qualify; In the knockout stage, compared with Bayern and Real Madrid faced by Manchester City, Inter's encounter with Porto, Benfica and Milan is obviously much less difficult. But when everyone sees that Benfica can qualify in the group with Paris and Juventus, when everyone sees that Milan can beat Napoli, who led alone in Serie A this season and reached the top several rounds earlier, Inter's road to promotion is not a good game.
And in the final, when Inter got more good opportunities than Manchester City, it actually showed that Inzaghi Jr.'s overall strategic deployment worked; But Inter's strikers are Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro.
If the angle of Lautaro facing Ederson is already very small, it is understandable that he cannot score; Then Lukaku was twice in front of goal, once blocked a teammate's goal, once wasted a great opportunity, and then thought of playing Manchester City derby for Manchester United that year, twice assisting opponents in front of goal, and mentioning Lu in Manchester, are full of awe!