City begin new Champions League era with Inter stalemate

Men's Team

City 0-0 Inter: Match stats and reaction

In a replay of the 2023 Champions League final and only the second ever competitive meeting between the two clubs, there was nothing to separate the sides as both sets of defences dominated their attacking counterparts.

It’s the first time we have failed to score in a home Champions League match since the March 2022 draw with Sporting CP.

The result means we begin the new-look Champions League with one point from the first of eight games as part of the 36-team league phase.

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What happened

There was an unfamiliar feel to things as the teams emerged from the tunnel, with City decked out in the spectacular Definitely City kit, inspired by Oasis’ iconic Definitely Maybe album released 30 years ago.

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We’ll wear the eye-catching number on select European nights this term.

Erling Haaland thought he had his first opening of the night within five minutes but Francesco Acerbi was fractionally quicker to Jack Grealish’s cross than our goal-hungry striker.

Picture Special

Gallery: Points shared with Inter

Inter are Serie A champions for a reason though and appeared threatening on the break, with strikers Marcus Thuram and Mehdi Taremi ready to leap on any slack touch in midfield.

Yann Sommer, Inter’s Swiss goalkeeper, was first tested just shy of 19 minutes, when Haaland catapulted himself into the night sky to meet Savinho’s floated cross.

The Italians grew into the game significantly as the first half wore on.

Josko Gvardiol was forced into a brilliant headed clearance in front of his goal after a Matteo Darmian strike before Ederson had to palm a Thuram header - later called offside - to safety on the half hour mark.

City hit back with an attacking flurry of our own, eventually culminating a low Haaland shot from 20 yards that rolled narrowly wide of the far post.

Kevin De Bruyne was the next to go close but Sommer was quick off his line to smother our Belgian’s effort.

That proved to be De Bruyne‘s final act in the match as he and Savinho were replaced at the break by Phil Foden and llkay Gundogan.

Inter had the first major opening of the second half when Darmian was rolled through by Taremi.

However, with Ederson advancing towards him, the wing-back chose to backheel the ball into oncoming traffic rather than fire at goal.

City hustled hard but weren’t able to test Sommer until the 69th minute.

Jack Grealish, cutting in from the left, combined with Gundogan in impossibly tight spaces in the Inter area, carving a yard for Foden to get his shot away.

However, our standout performer in 2023/24 couldn’t grab his first goal of the new term, hitting his right-footed effort straight down the middle.

City remained camped out in Inter’s half, but the Italians offered a distinct threat every time they burst forward.

So much so, Henrikh Mkhitaryan will feel he should have grabbed the opener in the 75th minute when he latched on to Denzel Dumfries’ cross but could only fire high over the bar.

City remained camped out in Inter’s half, but the Italians offered a distinct threat every time they burst forward.

So much so, Henrikh Mkhitaryan will feel he should have grabbed the opener in the 75th minute when he latched on to Denzel Dumfries’ cross but could only fire high over the bar.

Back on the front foot, it was our turn to go close just a few minutes later but Gvardiol’s powerful strike from the edge of the box was met just as strongly by Sommer.

There was still time for two major chances and they would both fall to the same man.

The first saw Gvardiol chip for Gundogan to nod straight at Sommer, while the second had the midfielder diving head first at a Jeremy Doku cross - only to see it clear the bar.

That proved to be the final act of the night and both sides would have to settle for a point.

Teams

CITY XI: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Rodrigo, De Bruyne (C) (Gundogan 46), Bernardo (Doku 80), Savinho (Foden 46), Grealish, Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Walker, Stones, Kovacic, Nunes, McAtee

INTER XI: Sommer, Bisseck (Pavard 74), Bastoni, Acerbi, Darmian (Dumfries 74), Augusto, Zielinski (Mkhitaryan 65), Calhanoglu (Frattesi 80), Barella (C), Taremi, Thuram (L. Martinez 65)

Subs: Di Gennaro, J. Martinez, De Vrij, Asllani

Pep Guardiola reaction

“We face a really, really difficult team, champions from Italy.

“They are physical and they have all departments. Build up from Sommer and Bastoni, playing on the transition.

“I am really satisfied for the game we played. They are masters of defending deep. 

“They help each other unbelievably so you cannot expect to create a lot of chances. We created some chances.

“We played much better than two years ago in the final of the Champions League. I like everything from my team today.

“We would prefer to win but still seven games, see what happens.”

Man of the Match

Rodrigo - On a rare night where our attacking play faltered, it was reassuring to have this team’s symbolic leader anchoring things in the middle of the pitch.

The Spaniard was making his first start of the season after a delayed return from his triumphant Euro 2024 summer and instantly looked the linchpin he has long been for Pep Guardiola.

He completed 82 passes, second only to Manuel Akanji and was just as efficient and tidy out of possession - stemming several Inter counterattacks early on.

Our No.16 was the star man the last time we played Inter, but in very different circumstances.

This performance demonstrated the best of everything he does every game, week in, week out.

Ruben Dias reaction

A very intense game against a very strong opponent.

We knew what was coming. They’re a top team as well, they are used to winning. Obviously, we would not have an easy job.

In the end, the team had a great performance. We were very close to scoring but we’ll take it and move forward.

It was a very good test for us to play against such a strong side.

Memories of istanbul

Pep Guardiola and Rodrigo insisted in the pre-match press conferences that the team were not thinking about our historic previous meeting with Inter.

However, that’s not something required of fans - who took the chance to remember one of the greatest nights in our club’s past, the 1-0 win against the Italian giants in the 2023 Champions League final.

Ahead of kick-off, the Halle Orchestra played special renditions of the songs belted out on the way to that achievement while the South Stand unfurled a banner asking the question often sung in the stands: ‘Can we talk about Rodri?’

That sentiment continued throughout the game, with repeated songs referencing that special game in Istanbul.

What it means

City take a point from our first outing in this year’s Champions League.

The new format means we have seven more matches to play before the end of the new-look league phase.

To safely progress directly to the Round of 16, we’ll have to finish in the top eight of the 36-team table.

Coming ninth to 24th will see us into a play-off round.

What’s next

City will be back at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon for another clash against one of Europe’s leading sides.

We’ll be facing Arsenal, who have been our closest competitors in the Premier League in each of the last two seasons, at 16:30 (UK) on 22 September. Not to be missed!