Manchester City 1 Inter Milan 0: Champions League final tactics

Manchester City completed the final leg of an historic treble by defeating Inter Milan to claim their first ever Champions League title. Pep Guardiola's remarkable team dominated possession in a tight game of few genuine chances, but an excellent strike from Rodri midway through the second half was enough to secure the win that confirms this team's place in the record books. Inter huffed and puffed in attack once falling behind, but Federico Dimarco headed against the bar and Ederson made a superb late save from Romelu Lukaku as City held on.

“It was written in the stars that we’d win this season – and we did," said Guardiola, who becomes the first coach in history to complete the league, cup and European Cup/Champions League treble with two different clubs, having previously done so with Barcelona in 2008/09. “I’m feeling tired, calm and satisfied. This trophy is so difficult to win. We knew it would be hard. They are really good. We were anxious in the first half, but it was a question of being patient. I told them to be patient. 

“You have to be lucky, with Ederson at the end. The momentum came from winning the Premier League and FA Cup, and now we have this. It was not our best performance. I have no energy to think of next season, and we need a break. We will start from zero and it’s our job. Winning the treble is so difficult.”

In possession: Manchester City

Central-midfield diamond

For Manchester City’s second Champions League final in three seasons, Pep Guardiola set his team up in a 3-4-3 formation that featured a midfield diamond. Rodri operated as a single pivot, with John Stones playing to the right and moving out to right-back when defending. Ilkay Gündogan started in the number 10 position at the top of the diamond, with Kevin De Bruyne initially in a wider role on the left. Here, the Belgian was closely followed by Matteo Darmian, who played on the right of the Inter back three. Darmian aggressively jumped out to mark and track De Bruyne’s movements (below); this allowed Nicolò Barella to press Nathan Aké in a three-man front line that applied significant early pressure to City’s back three.

De Bruyne as the number 10

De Bruyne was soon moved into the number 10 position. Here, he could receive higher and in more dangerous positions, and create a better link into Erling Haaland. Gündogan was able to work possession into him from the left side, and with Darmian still jumping to press De Bruyne had the perfect space to feed the ball into Haaland on his preferred left foot (below). City’s best chance of the first half came in this way, although André Onana saved from the City striker – and De Bruyne was forced off with a leg injury shortly after, just as his team’s adapted game plan was starting to work well.

Finding the opposite inside channel

Stones managed to find key pockets of space to receive in his new number-eight role, but it wasn’t really until the second half that City were able to use him to progress into the final third. Barella and Darmian continued to jump to press City’s left, with Hakan Çalhanoglu and Marcelo Brozovic then covering Rodri and substitute Phil Foden. Although this left Haaland overloaded, Stones remained free to receive (below) and drive into the final third with more purpose than in the first half. He performed this role superbly, giving City a key platform to break forward.

Foden’s central threat

With Stones repeatedly progressing forward, and City’s right inside channel their best method of attack, Inter shifted their defensive approach to go man-for-man. Darmian continued pressing on to Gündogan, while Stones was finally marked with more consistency by Inter’s central midfield. Manuel Akanji now drove forward from the right of the back three to maintain the link into the right inside channel, as was seen in the build-up to what ultimately proved the winning goal on the evening. As a result of these changes, Foden found much more room centrally to drop and receive as City’s biggest attacking threat. He was able to pull Dimarco, by now playing in the Inter back three, out of the defensive line (below), from where he produced one magical turn and run before seeing his shot saved by Onana. In the end, though, City didn’t need a second goal and held on to win their first Champions League.

In possession: Inter Milan

Drawing out the City press

Aiming to maintain his 100 per cent record in finals, Simone Inzaghi set his team up in their familiar 3-5-2 shape, with Lautaro Martínez playing off Edin Dzeko on the front line. They looked to build deep and draw the City front line out, with single pivot Marcelo Brozovic then supported by the number eight closer to the ball. This worked to drag the City midfielders forward too, which created significant gaps between the lines (below) into which Inter could aim balls for the front two. Right wing-back Denzel Dumfries also moved very high in build-up. This gave Inter an extra aerial presence to compete for both first and second balls, and secure play higher up the pitch.

Right-sided attacks

Nicolò Barella and Dumfries rotated well through Inter’s right inside channel, looking to threaten when the team played switches from the left and through midfield. Brozovic and Hakan Çalhanoglu would here form a double pivot, with left wing-back Federico Dimarco only really pushing forward in attacking transition. By contrast, Barella and Dumfries made repeated attacking runs when breaking from deep (below). They looked to threaten around Nathan Aké and force Jack Grealish into recovering back more often than he got forward.

Finding the forwards

Romelu Lukaku replaced Dzeko approaching the hour mark. He provided a mobile target for Inter to play into as he pinned City’s centre-backs and moved across the line, allowing Martínez to receive in better positions between the lines. Both number eights, Barella and Çalhanoglu, now pushed forward to form a central attacking box (below) once Inter fell behind and had to chase the game. Wing-backs Dimarco and Dumfries both pushed forward too, but from withdrawn starting positions in an attempt to draw out City’s widest defenders. Lukaku’s presence certainly had an impact, as Inter created big chances in the later stages of the game.

Onana’s ability on the ball

As Inter threw players forward in the hunt for an equaliser, goalkeeper André Onana often joined the back line as an extra passing option. As well as clipped balls forward, Onana’s ability to break multiple lines and into feet (below) gave Inter a good platform from which to force City into deeper defending for the final moments of the match. Robin Gosens was added as a very attacking left wing-back, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan alongside Barella as the second number eight. With Inter pushing to the very end, Gosens headed back across goal for Lukaku – but the former Manchester United striker was denied by Ederson and Inter were unable to find a precious equaliser.

To learn more from the professional coaches of The Coaches’ Voice, visit CV Academy