CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Man City’s road to the 2023 Champions League final: RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid
Pep Guardiola’s side are highly fancied to secure their first ever Champions League trophy when they face Inter Milan on Saturday.
Manchester City are gunning for a historic treble (FA Cup, Premier League and Euro glory) as they face off against Inter Milan in the 2022/23 Champions League final at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on 10 June.
City’s path to Istanbul
Following the group stage draw held in Istanbul last August, the ‘Sky Blues’ were pitted in Group G as top seed and were drawn along with Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla and FC Copenhagen.
There were few surprises in the group with City securing top spot in commanding form with the side having little trouble advancing with Guardiola’s side bagging 14 goals and just shipping two in four wins and two draws.
German double
The Round of 16 saw the Manchester side drawn against RB Leipzig with top scorer Erling Haaland bagging four goals in a 7-0 win at the Etihad to dump the German side out of the competition on an 8-1 aggregate win.
Bayern Munich were next up in the quarterfinals and a dominant 3-0 first leg win in Manchester put the ‘Cityzens’ in a commanding position who secured a 1-1 draw in Bavaria to advance to the semifinals on a 4-1 aggregate win.
Maddrid hoodoo broken
After being eliminated at the hands of Real Madrid at the semi-final stage in 2016 and last season, many City fans feared that lightning would strike again against the current holders.
A tense 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital was followed up with a 4-0 demolition at the Etihad as City delivered a first half masterclass that had Carlo Ancelotti’s side on the ropes.