Manchester City 0-0 Inter Milan Review

Champions League - League Phase

The Champions League is back and against Inter Milan in the first match of the season, we already got the kind of game you’d expect to see in the knockout rounds. High-quality players, well-organized teams, and it all comes down to who is ruthless in front of goal.

MOTM: Josko Gvardiol

Against Inter Milan it became quite clear what our best backline currently is and a big part of that is Josko Gvardiol. Balancing between being the aggressive front-footed defender winning possession off attackers and being able to contribute in the final third. Whether it’s the selfless runs into the box to providing the cross for Gundogan himself. Gvardiol is comfortable within the team but his best performances are still in front of him.

Notable Stats:

• Manchester City have only failed to score in a home UEFA Champions League match under Pep Guardiola twice. Against Inter Milan and Sporting CP (March 2022).

• Inter Milan had 10 shots in the first half against Manchester City; the first opposing side to have 10+ shots in the opening half of a UEFA Champions League game at the Etihad since Monaco (February 2017).

• The longest unbeaten runs in the history of the European Cup/Champions League:
  25 - Man United (2007 - 2009)
  24 - Man City (Present)

Game Stats:

• xG: 2.42 - 0.53

• xThreat: 2.24 - 0.56

• Possession: 60.0% - 40.0%

• Field Tilt: 88.3% - 11.7%

• Penalty Box Shots: 16 - 7

• Deep Entries: 23 - 5

• Buildup Completion: 93.3% — 85.8%

• PPDA: 11.9 - 22.4

• High Turnovers: 6 - 2

• 10+ Pass Sequences: 27 - 12

If you want to stay up to date with individual player minutes then check out the live Google sheet linked below.

What was clear early on is how comfortable Inter Milan are rotating their back line and midfielders. Incredibly fluid in attack and the buildup. Initially, City had trouble with their pressing as Inter dropped Zielinski back and Bastoni pushed up. Drawing City up man-to-man and leaving the midfield free.

So to deal with this City adjusted their press to be more compact centrally. Inter like to build up deep across their back line with midfielders dropping deeper and keeping the space in behind open. City blocked off the passing lanes which led to this turnover.

The offside trap from City worked well in the first half. Inter Milan had several counterattacks from mainly City players losing possession than anything created. What they did so well after recovering the ball was to make a couple of quick short passes before attacking the space. City couldn’t counterpress them before Inter managed to get behind the City back line.

This space on either side of Rodri was another problem for City as well when pinning back Inter Milan. Both strikers worked incredibly hard to prevent Rodri from dictating the game in the final third, in positions to jump on his mistakes.

You would frequently see this arrangement during the first half. Savinho got the ball a lot but was always faced with Zielinski and Augusto. Taremi dropping in would prevent City from moving the ball across quickly. If Savinho did beat Augusto to the line then Bastoni was prepared to come over and it left a very narrow crossing angle for Sommer to deal with.

Ideal setup for Inter in practice. Even if Rico Lewis was making a run through the half-space into the box, Bastoni could pick him up whilst Zielinski doubled up on Savinho with Augusto. Bernardo was picked up by Hakan. Haaland had two CBs nearby.

De Bruyne looked to pick up an injury before the end of the first half, but Guardiola said afterward that he had the substitution in mind already. He wanted better players in the pockets, to use the small space, and to be able to turn quickly. On came Phil Foden and Ilkay Gundogan. Gvardiol and Akanji were then able to drop back a little, which helped to keep Inter Milan boxed in and manage any turnovers.

Two big chances fell for Foden in the second half, the first worked very well across the box to find him free in the middle but he shot directly at Sommer. The second Foden shoots before realizing how much time he had to continue his run, line up a better shot, or pass to a teammate further ahead.

Now, if there were one player we’d like a golden chance to fall to it’s probably Erling Haaland but second place might be Ilkay Gundogan. The first header comes from Gvardiol’s cross on the edge of the box to the back post. Gundogan heads it right at Sommer, either side of him and it’s a goal. The second is well-worked to Jeremy Doku on the right, crossing the first time before Gundogan heads it over.

It’s not like City had no chances to win the match, they created plenty despite how well Inter Milan defended but couldn’t take a single one. Haaland had a header and his shot from outside the box that went just wide but besides that, you could have asked them to create more for him.

Inter Milan on the other side, despite how many times they recovered the ball, could quite work a counterattack into a better shooting position with time. Neither side was ruthless in front of goal.

Jeremy Doku had a good 10-minute appearance off the bench and should have come on sooner. Rico Lewis being in the right half-space was able to lay it off for him quite quickly so he was 1v1 with Augusto.

Moving Forward

I thought this time around it was better to go through some quotes from players after the match as well as from Guardiola. They sum up the results and performance very well. Manuel Akanji spoke about the importance of defending so well, the chances they had to win but being happy with the result.

As Josko Gvardiol mentions, it’s far too early in the competition to read into one result but quite clearly that was the toughest match City will play in this league phase. A team that wasn’t just filled with quality players but was also coached well and stable. PSG and Juventus will both be quality teams to play but undergoing a lot of change lately.

Perhaps a positive quote from Pep Guardiola knowing that City is pushing to extend his contract… 👀

The team is playing at a high level early into the season and we saw that against Inter Milan. That same intensity and focus defensively will be needed in the next match with some better finishing.

Next up for Manchester City is a home match against Arsenal, which feels crucial to the title race despite how early it is. A win for City puts them five points clear of Arsenal.

Manchester City vs Arsenal Preview

Premier League GW5

When the fixtures came out this would have been one of the first matches fans looked for, being so early into the season, it feels like we will learn a lot but not be able to draw any title conclusions just yet. A win for City puts Arsenal in a tough position but any other results still leave both teams well in the mix. Missing Martin Odegaard is akin to City losing Rodri, he does everything for Arsenal, leading the press, creating with Saka, and progressing the ball for Declan Rice. Will that all matter if they are going to set up in the same way they did against Spurs?

Previous Results

• Manchester City drew against Inter Milan (H) 0-0 in their first Champions League match of the season, coming off a 2-1 win against Brentford (H).

• Arsenal drew against Atalanta (A) 0-0 in their first Champions League match of the season, coming off a 0-1 win against Spurs (A).

Notable Injuries:

• Manchester City are without Oscar Bobb and Nathan Ake. Late fitness check for Kevin De Bruyne who could still be involved.

• Arsenal are without Mikel Merino (shoulder), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf), Kieran Tierney (thigh), and Martin Odegaard (ankle).

Now for this match, I fully expect to see something similar from Arsenal last season and their approach against Spurs. Better in transition and not allowing us to so comfortably have possession. Ideally, they want to not give anything away by leaning on their defensive strengths and this time create better chances in transition. You flip that over to Manchester City and it’s going to be quite similar to Inter Milan. They’ll have them boxed in and will create chances. It’s just whether they are ruthless in front of goal. That’s what will decide the match.

I’d like to see Jeremy Doku and Savinho get the start, returning to the approach we saw against Chelsea from our wingers as that’s the area City can hurt Arsenal in. Spurs with better players 1v1 would have created better quality chances. It won’t be easy in the middle for the likes of Gundogan, De Bruyne, Foden, and Bernardo to find space away from Declan Rice and Partey.

City should not be playing it safe in the first half and giving Arsenal’s defense a comfortable time to build momentum. Make it tough from the start and include the option of starting Rodri + Kovacic. We shouldn’t be seeing that at home. Instead, he’ll pick up the important start against Watford on Tuesday resting Rodri and be an option off the bench to see out the win.

We saw this in the match last season against Arsenal, Real Madrid in the Champions League, and Manchester United in the FA Cup final. It matters who the spare man is. That’s why Rico Lewis must be the one starting at RB. Trust in Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, and Josko Gvardiol to be aggressive, defending on the front foot against the Arsenal front three.

Corners is something to be wary about, of course, Arsenal is great at scoring off them but in particular when City has them. Our players’ left defending can be got at, West Ham had a couple of chances to do this and Arsenal will look at these if City makes a mistake to spring into a transition.

One area to watch is how Arsenal defends deep out of possession. Inter Milan used a 5-3-2 but Arsenal have been using a 4-4-2 which leaves the door open to be overloaded in midfield. They will trust the individual brilliant of Declan Rice, Saliba, and Gabriel but that doesn’t mean the likes of Rico Lewis, Gundogan, Foden, and Bernardo Silva can’t find space to create at least one excellent chance. It’s going to be a tight match so that could be all City needs.

Final Predictions

Ones to Watch: 

Manchester City

Jeremy Doku/Savinho are the two for me in this match. It went under the radar how poor Ben White looked defending 1v1 against Spurs and he needed Saka to come back for support. It’s a big opening for City on both sides with their talented 1v1 wingers to expose. We’ll make better runs to support them. All about whether City can do a better job of picking the lock this time around.

Arsenal

What was missing from Arseanl’s performance last season at the Etihad was a well-executed transition. The guy who is going to need to deliver in that capacity is Kai Havertz if Arsenal wants to have any chance of winning the match. There is little doubt Saka will do his job in attack but questions remain over Havertz if he only gets one chance.

Predicted Lineup:

That’s the team I’d love to see put out against Arsenal but I suspect that Grealish will come in for Doku and Bernardo for Gundogan.

Predicted Score: Manchester City 2 - 0 Arsenal

Other

For more little details from the Inter match, you can check out my thread linked below.

Last night I was on a live stream with It’s LB and Mulv from Noisy Pod to discuss the match and preview Arsenal (H).

If you are looking for another podcast to listen to then check out the latest Ninety Three Twenty with Ted Knutson, the founder of Statsbomb, discussing analytics in football and how Manchester City uses it. We also discussed transfers, how to analyze them and his new venture with The Transfer Flow.

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