Josko Gvardiol believes one European opponent faced Manchester City like no other in the Premier League

Manchester City were faced by the challenge of one opponent in European competition in a way that no other side in the Premier League has done, according to one player.

That came on the opening night of the revamped UEFA Champions League earlier this month, when Inter Milan were drawn as Manchester City’s first opponents in the brand new league phase of Europe’s premier club competition.

Despite numerous shots on goal and opportunities for both sides to break the deadlock, a combination of smart saves from Ederson and Yann Sommer, as well as astute defending saw a 0-0 draw played out at the Etihad Stadium.

Since then, Pep Guardiola has glowed with praise for Simone Inzaghi’s squad and how the Italian champions offered a mixture of fine attacking threat on the break, control in midfield, and stern defensive organisation.

Now, according to the information of Italian journalist Riccardo Trevisani speaking to Cronache di Spogliatoio, Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol believes Inter Milan offered a challenge like no other when compared to Premier League teams.

Trevisani said, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness, “I met Joško Gvardiol in a restaurant and he told me: ‘No team in the Premier League has ever faced us the way Inter did’. Inter came out of Manchester with a sense of boldness that killed them off.”

The reporter continued, “If you add up psyche and physique, Inter were not in the best condition. Even (Manchester) City struggled to put in two level performances, by the 97th minute they were down.”

Manchester City will be somewhat pleased that as a result of the new UEFA Champions League format, they will not take on Inter Milan until at least the knock-out play-off rounds this season with the tournament bringing eight different opponents on each club.

That means that Manchester City’s next match in the competition will see them travel to Slovakia, as they take on Slovan Bratislava on matchday two – an opponent that suffered a big defeat in their opening game at the hands of Celtic.

As for Pep Guardiola and his players’ next home match, that will bring the challenge of Sparta Prague at the Etihad Stadium, in amongst a congested Premier League and Carabao Cup schedule.