The two teams battling in tomorrow’s Champions League Final (3 p.m. ET) have each had unique paths to get there. Manchester City opened as the +275 favorite, and have stayed in the top spot the entire time this market has been up. Inter was first released at +3300 and reached as high as +10000 following their opening defeat to Bayern Munich in UCL play.
We brought on our soccer expert Jon Eimer to preview this match and make some picks.
Manchester City Dominance
Love them or hate them, right now we’re all just living in Manchester City’s world. They are one match away from winning an English treble for the first time since Manchester United pulled it off back in the 1998-99 season. I expect City to do what they always do: dominate possession and overwhelm their opponents, as they play against an Inter Milan side that almost prefers to sit back and focus on defense over everything.
What Is Inzaghi’s Gameplan?
Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi has had plenty of time to prepare for this final. Unfortunately for anyone who loves goals, I have a feeling that Inzaghi’s plan is going to be Inter Milan parking the absolute heck out of this bus and playing for a 0-0 draw.
The best-case scenario for the Italians here is for this game to end 0-0, for extra time to end 0-0 and to take this bad boy to penalties. They want this because they have the most effective UCL goalkeeper of the year, Andre Onana, between the sticks.
Andre Onana Is the Key to an Upset
Onana has kept an astounding 8 clean sheets over Inter’s 12 UCL games so far this season. Milan’s defense and goalkeeping have carried them through this competition, and they will need to rely on that more than ever if they want to lift the cup. While they haven’t had to play an attack as aggressive as City, they’ll stick to what has been working and prepare for war.
Picks
SGP: Manchester City ML + Under 4.5 Goals (-135)
Rodri Hernandez to Have 1 or More Shots on Target (+200)