This year’s UEFA Champions League final is a meeting of one of the classic European powers and one of the new blood contenders. Manchester City is seeking its first Champions League trophy, while Inter Milan has won the world’s most prestigious club competition three times, most recently in 2010.
The English club is heavily favored. Man City is a whopping -450 (2-to-9) to lift the trophy. Inter is +280 (14-to-5).
When is the Manchester City vs. Inter Milan final?
Date: Saturday, June 10
Time: 3 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. BST
Location: Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul
The 10 p.m. local kickoff means the winning time will be lifting the trophy after midnight. There has been some uncertainty over whether the venue would have to change due to political drama over an upcoming election in Turkey. As of now, it still seems mostly certain the final will remain in Istanbul.
The only other time Istanbul hosted the European Cup/Champions League final was one of the most famous finals in the competition’s history, and a Milan club was involved. That was when Liverpool came back from 3-0 down at halftime against Inter’s cross-city rivals to win in penalties in 2005.
Inter beat AC Milan to get to this final, winning 3-0 on aggregate.
What are the odds for the Champions League final?
The implied odds have Man City winning in regulation 71.43 percent of the time. Man City being heavily favored is no surprise. Pep Guardiola’s squad had one of the best performances in club history to beat Real Madrid in the semifinal. City put four past Madrid to win 5-1 on aggregate, overcoming the team that knocked it out of last year’s semifinals.
Inter was impressive and in control the whole 180 minutes against AC Milan, but City is absolutely on fire. On top of being three wins away from the treble, City’s unbeaten streak reached 23 matches after beating Madrid. City can clinch the Premier League title this weekend and is in the FA Cup final against rival Manchester United on June 3, a week before the Champions League final.
Man City is undefeated in this season’s Champions League and has won all six home matches. None of the knockout ties have been close either. In the three knockout rounds so far (against RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid), City has drawn 1-1 away from home while outscoring opponents 14-0 in three matches at Etihad Stadium.
Inter lost twice in the group stage, both 2-0 scores against Munich (a team City beat 4-1 on aggregate in the quarterfinals), but has been undefeated in the knockout stage. Inter got past Porto, Benfica and AC Milan to get to the final.
The Italian team is on a hot run as well. Inter has won eight straight matches with wins against Juventus, Lazio, Roma, and the two wins against Milan in the semifinal among the run. Inter, which is third in Serie A, is also in the Coppa Italia final against Fiorentina on May 24. In that winning streak, Inter has six shutouts.
This is the sixth appearance in the Champions League final for Inter. The Nerazzurri won in 1964, 1965 and 2010 while losing in 1967 and 1972.
City’s only other final appearance was two years ago when Chelsea pulled off a 1-0 upset win in Porto.
There’s no drama over the competition’s top scorer so the betting market for that is no longer available. City striker Erling Haaland has scored 12 goals already, four ahead of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. Edin Džeko leads Inter with four goals.
Kevin De Bruyne, City’s top playmaker, leads the UCL with seven assists so far. Federico Dimarco has five assists to lead Inter Milan.
(Photo credit: Michael Regan / Getty Images)
