It’s a Champions League final lineup very few people predicted. The idea of Manchester City making it all the way to the final was plausible from the off, but nobody backed Inter to get this far.

Regardless of what happens, we will have a winner many younger fans have never seen before. Manchester City have never won the Champions League, while Inter last tasted success in 2010 with Jose Mourinho when they did the treble.

It is no secret City are the favourites to lift the trophy in Istanbul, but Inter are ending the season on a superb run of form. Anyone can beat anyone in one game of football and Inter will be clinging on to that idea.

Let’s look at the head-to-head record to see if there are any hints at who may win the Champions League final.

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Manchester City and Inter have never played a competitive game against each another, mainly due to City’s rise into European competition from 2008 coinciding with a dark patch in Inter’s history when they were rarely involved in Europe, at least not to a high level.

City have been in every edition of the Champions League since the 2011/12 season, while Inter were absent between 2012 and 2018 and have not been drawn with City since becoming involved again.

There are only two examples of the teams facing each other, both being pre-season friendlies. Ironically, a former and a current Inter player have scored for City against Inter.

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Manchester City have faced Italian teams in 16 different matches in European competition over the years, which is quite a lot considering their limited historical involvement in Europe.

They have taken on Juventus, AC Milan, AS Roma, Napoli, and Atalanta over the years with the very first instance coming all the way back in 1976 in the old UEFA Cup. City’s record against Italian teams has been largely successful, though not overwhelmingly so.

They have won six of the games they have played against Italian teams in Europe, drawing another six and losing four. Their goal difference across those matches is certainly good, scoring 26 and conceding 18.

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Owing to Inter’s rich history in European competition and that the Premier League has always had plenty of representatives in each tournament, there are a lot of games between Inter and English teams to consider.

The first came right back in 1956 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a tournament that they played Birmingham City in four times between 1956 and 1961. Since playing Birmingham, Inter have clashed with Everton, Newcastle, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Norwich, Manchester United, Ipswich, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Southampton.

Inter’s most recent memorable Champions League matches against English opposition came in 2010 when they were drawn in the same group as Tottenham. The game at San Siro saw the Nerazzurri race into a 4-0 lead by half time with goals from Javier Zanetti, Samuel Eto’o, Dejan Stankovic and Eto’o again.

Gareth Bale then produced his first piece of continental brilliance as he netted three times in the second half with incredible goals from left-back. Spurs may have lost the game but Bale was suddenly being taken way more seriously. Tottenham then won the game at White Hart Lane 3-1.

The last time Inter played against an English team was Tottenham again in the Champions League group stage, this time in the 2018/19 season. Inter won the game at San Siro 2-1 with goals from Mauro Icardi and Matias Vecino late on after Christian Eriksen had given Spurs the lead.

Once again, Tottenham got revenge in the second game and it was Eriksen again who scored against the team he would later play for.

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