City’s previous meetings with Inter

Even with the confidence that brings, the nerves inside the Ataturk Stadium were palpable ahead of kick-off and once the game got going, as you’d expect when a first-ever Champions League and a European Treble are on the line.

We dominated possession throughout the game without ever getting to our free-flowing best, while Ederson had to make several interventions as Inter leapt onto any lapse in concentration.

However, when Manuel Akanji set Bernardo free down the right and the Portuguese playmaker’s cross was deflected back towards the edge of the box, Rodri was the calmest man in all of Europe as he stepped up and sidefooted it home.

It sparked wild celebrations from the players, the bench and the thousands of Blues filling one end of the stadium.

Focus was required to see out the job, with Ederson again pulling off some stunning stops right up to the final whistle, when once again, everyone of a City persuasion could let loose.

The two sides met again in the very first matchday of the 2024/25 campaign as a new era of the Champions League came into force, with the current league phase model implemented.

It was decidedly less dramatic that night, with two stubborn defences holding out for a 0-0 draw.

There’s since been plenty of change both in Manchester and Milan, and there’ll likely never be celebrations to match those after the June 2023 final, but coming up against Inter will always take City fans back to that night.

Here’s hoping an entertaining fixture in Hong Kong follows…