Man City vs Inter Milan LIVE: Champions League team news and line-ups tonight

Pep Guardiola says his players know what they need to do during the league phase of this Champions League campaign and that they may need to adjust against Inter tonight.

“It’s not about inspiration or emotion – I am so cold on that.” he said, “The players have to know what they have to do. They have to adjust something. The way [Inter] attack is so difficult to control. It’s the first game of an eight-game group stage. We know what we have to do.”

“We [look to] win our first game and then the second one and see what happens. In the last games, [we will] take a look. Like in the Premier League, we will look at the table in the future. We have to try to win our games at home; otherwise, anything can happen.”

Manchester City midfielder Rodri admitted that the squad watched the 2022/23 Champions League final between the two teams in the build-up to tonight’s match.

He said: “We watched the game [on Monday], analysing them because they haven’t changed much in the way they play. It was great to see it back. This is football – it was a great time and now life goes on. We need to move on and try to start as well as possible in the new competition.

“I am very happy for everything that’s happened to me in recent years. What we’ve won and to win with my country at Euro 2024 is a dream. It’s a consequence of working hard, consistency and never giving up.”

Guardiola admitted he did not expect Haaland to be this prolific as the Norwegian, who has nine goals in his four Premier League matches this season, could get his 100th City goal in Wednesday’s Champions League tie against Internazionale.

Haaland has only played 103 games for City, putting him on pace to reach his hundred even quicker than Cristiano Ronaldo did when his first 100 goals for Real Madrid came in 105 appearances.

Inzaghi added that his team aren’t looking for ‘redemption’ after losing to Man City in the final.

He said: “We are aware this isn’t redemption time. I have no regrets after the final in Istanbul – the lads gave all they had. Of course we were heartbroken, but it was single episodes that determined the result, as often happens in football.”

Simone Inzaghi, the Inter manager says his team ‘cannot wait’ to face Manchester City this evening and that the match will not be a repeat of the 2023 final.

Inzaghi said: “We cannot wait. This won’t be a rematch of that [2023] final, that was another story. It will be our first game in the league phase and we want to do our best.

“We know they are tough opponents – one of the best in the world. We need to play well in both phases, trying to help each other out. They have very skillful players.”

Instead of 32 competing sides being divided into eight groups of four, all 36 teams in this year’s Champions League will form a single league. Each entrant will play four games at home and four games away for a total of eight fixtures, two more than under the previous format. These eight encounters will be with eight different opponents.

The top eight sides in the league after the competition’s first phase will progress directly to the last-16. Teams placed ninth to 24th will have to negotiate a play-off round, while teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated from all European competition.

The 36 clubs will be seeded into four different pots based on their individual club coefficient at the start of the season. Each team will face two sides from each pot, one at home and one away. Pot 1 will include defending champions Real Madrid and the other strongest club sides by Uefa coefficient.

City, the 2023 winners, begin their latest European campaign as Inter Milan visit the Etihad Stadium.

The Switzerland international said: “It’s getting more complicated with the league. You play different teams, and then Inter don’t have the same opponents as us. It’s just got bigger, more games.

“Then we have the Club World Cup at the end of the season. It’s just game after game and I don’t know how it will work out over the next couple of years.

“It’s so tough, you don’t just think about this season – but also next season. When do we do holidays? There are no breaks in winter.

“If we are lucky we get two weeks and then we need to be back and into next season. There’s no end to it. I don’t know how it works out. Maybe I’ll retire at 30!”

When Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin attends the first games of the new Champions League this week, it will be with a considerable security detail. This has led to grumbles from federation staff, especially since very few people outside football know what he even looks like. There have probably only been two moments when the Slovenian official was properly in the public eye.

One was when the Super League was launched in April 2021 and Ceferin admirably defended the spirit of European football in a defiant media appearance, all while lambasting executives as “snakes” and “liars”. Less publicised from that day was the fact Uefa were also in the process of approving the changes to the Champions League we are going to see enacted this week.

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