Pep Guardiola and Julian Alvarez on the verge of historic landmarks – Stat Preview: Manchester City vs Inter (Champions League Final)

Manchester City will be looking to achieve their first-ever Champions League trophy and a historic continental treble against Inter Milan in one of the club’s biggest matches in their history.

The Premier League champions will be going into the game as favourites and in fantastic form, having beaten local rivals Manchester United 2-1 to win the Emirates FA Cup last weekend at Wembley Stadium.

Ilkay Gundogan scored twice against Manchester United last Saturday and this weekend’s clash in Istanbul could be the 32 year-olds final match for Manchester City, as uncertainty grows surrounding his future beyond this weekend.

Inter Milan last won the Champions League in 2010 and will be determined to end their 13-year drought for European glory this weekend.

Edin Dzeko made 189 appearances for Manchester City over four years and will come up against his former club on Saturday, when the Sky Blues face the Serie A heavyweights for the first time.

Ahead of the game at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium, here are the all-important stats to look out for!

Manchester City

• Manchester City have only appeared in two previous major European finals, beating Polish side Gornik Zabrze 2-1 in the 1970 Cup Winner’s final, before losing the 2021 UEFA Champions League final to Chelsea.
• City are looking to become the fourth different English side to win the Champions League, after Manchester United (1999,2008), Liverpool (2005, 2019), and Chelsea (2012, 2021), which would be the most of any nation.
• Erling Haaland has scored 12 goals for Manchester City in the Champions League this season, the joint-most by a player for an English team in a single campaign.
• Having won the World Cup with Argentina in December, Julian Alvarez could become the 10^th player to win the World Cup and European Cup in the same season having featured in both finals. The only previous players to have done so in the 21^st century are Roberto Carlos and Raphael Varane.

Inter Milan

• Inter are featuring in their 11^th major European final, which is the third most of any Italian side behind the likes of Juventus and AC Milan. It is their first since losing 3-2 in the UEFA Europa League final against Sevilla in 2020 and only their second in the Champions League, where they won 2-0 against Bayern Munich in 2010 under Jose Mourinho.
• Inter are the fourth side ever to reach the Champions League final having lost their first game of the season in the competition, along with Milan (1994/5), Bayern Munich (1998/99) and Tottenham (2018/19), all of those teams lost in their respective finals.
• Inter’s European form has been strong, they have kept eight clean sheets in 12 Champions League matches this season, including five in six games in the knockout stages. Should they hold City here, they would equal the record for most clean sheets in the knockout stages in a single edition of the tournament.
• Inter’s top scorer, Lautaro Martinez, ended his season with 11 goals in his final 13 appearances, four of which were off the bench.

Previous Meetings

• This is the first-ever meeting between Manchester City and Inter Milan.

Potential Landmarks

• If Manchester City wins the game, it will be their first UEFA Champions League trophy.
• If City wins the game, this will be Pep Guardiola’s third managerial Champions League win.
• If City wins the game, they will have secured a historic continental treble, being only the 10^th treble football has seen in Europe.
• Pep Guardiola would win his 300th match as Manchester City manager with a victory on Saturday night.