Manchester City – Inter Milan – Lukaku’s ordeal, disappointing final, impassable Dias: the tops and flops

The tops

• Ruben Dias and Samuel Akanji, symbol of City’s success

That’s why, this time, City went all the way. This club was programmed to lift the Champions League for years. But the team, poorly built, leaned forward. It is because the heavy investments made in defense have rebalanced the case that Manchester is finally European champion. If a symbol was needed this Saturday, it would undoubtedly be Ruben Dias, impassable boss of the back lines, who did not disappoint, unlike the stars of the team. And it was a central defender who made the difference in front with the opening and the gap created by Samuel Akanji.

• Ederson, decisive 15 minutes

Feverish, like his team, Ederson did not seem on his plate in Istanbul. Even his footwork, his great strength, completely let him go and we saw him swinging warheads in the stands. In difficulty in the management of the depth, he offered two opportunities not to be released when necessary. While he was on a wire, the Brazilian saved his people in the last quarter of an hour and in particular on this flight at the last second of the match. He will remain a hero of the evening and his last fifteen minutes erase his unusual approximations.

Of course, Manchester City panicked this Saturday. Too much gambling, the Citizens have foiled. But they also had to face an opponent who has no equal to outsmart those he faces. The five-man defense of the Italians anesthetized the quartet De Bruyne, Graelish, Bernardo Silva, Haaland. The high density in the axis extinguished the influence of Gündogan. Inter, more biting in its interventions like an omnipresent Dimarco, was perfectly prepared for the fight. He simply lacked a bit of imagination in front to hope for better. But Inzaghi and Inter had pretty well prepared their case.

The flops

• A final that had only the name

It was to be the final bouquet of the season. After an extraordinary year, Manchester City struggled to impose its game and its ideas. It was a fight of a big hour with a string of fouls, very few chances to score and unusual errors at this level. City was scared and frankly foiled. Inter did with their limited weapons. Rodri’s goal provided a more thrilling end to the game by opening up the spaces. Last fifteen minutes with, finally, thrill and emotions. Fifteen minutes is too little but Manchester does not care this Saturday night.

• Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, one injured and one absent

City have gone to the moon without their two best players. Definitely cursed during his Champions League finals, Kevin De Bruyne had to leave his teammates prematurely as against Chelsea in 2021. Without ever having been able to turn the match around, the Belgian left the field with his head down. from the 36th minute. Erling Haaland played the entire match. But he was transparent. A single opportunity wasted by a shot that was too crushed and far too many duels lost, especially in the air. The top scorer in the competition (12 units) has disappeared, as in the semi-finals. A performance that could cost him a Ballon d’Or.

• Romelu Lukaku, bis repetita

In six months, Romelu Lukaku experienced two shipwrecks at the worst time of his career. In December in Doha against Croatia (0-0), he multiplied the failures including some unmissable which will make him the scapegoat for the unexpected elimination of the Belgians from the group stage. This Saturday, in the Champions League final, he experienced a new ordeal. Entering in the 56th minute, he first involuntarily repelled a header from Dimarco which seemed to be on its way to the goal. In the 89th minute, he has the equalizing ball at the end of his head. But he misses his head. Like Belgium, Inter cried all night.