PREDICTED LINEUP - MANCHESTER CITY VS INTER MILAN - HAALAND AND RODRI START, MAHREZ ON THE BENCH

Image courtesy of mancity.com

Manchester City are one day away from the biggest game in their history, as they face Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League Final, the only team stopping them from being only the second English team ever to win a treble.

It is just City's second ever Champions League final, with the memories of Porto in 2021, where the Blues lost1-0 against Chelsea, thanks to a goal by German attacker Kai Havertz, still haunting many associated with the club.

The 23 man City travelling squad, and a large number of loyal supporters, have travelled to Istanbul, the host city of this year's Champions League final, with the game due to take place at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.

Having more fans in the stadium will provide a huge boost to the players, as in the last Champions League final that City appeared in, in 2021, just 6,000 tickets were allocated to each club, compared to 20,000 tickets this time.

Pep Guardiola's side are firm favourites to come away with their first European trophy since 1970, but their opponents are not to be underestimated.

Inter have already won two trophies this season, having won the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana, and will be looking to make it a third on Saturday night. Despite a disappointing league performance, finishing 18 points behind eventual winners Napoli, Simone Inzaghi's side have had an impressive season, and winning in Istanbul on Saturday nigh would just cap off their success.

The Nerazzurri have some useful players, such as Nicolo Barella, Lautaro Martinez, Federico Dimarco, Andre Onana, Francesco Acerbi and former City cult hero Edin Dzeko, facing the club for the first time since his departure in 2015.

But there are very few players, if any at all, that would start for City in a game with as big a magnitude as this, making the Blues comfortable favourites on paper. But, this is a cup final, and a Champions League Final to boot, meaning anything can happen.

Guardiola has the luxury of a fully fit squad to pick from, meaning he has some positive selection headaches facing him, at full back and right wing in particular.

One of Nathan Ake, Kyle Walker or Manuel Akanji will miss out on a starting place in the final, with Guardiola having an array of top quality options to choose from, despite only having one senior recognised full back.

Each player has a reason to start. Walker has been in exquisite form of late, keeping the likes of Jadon Sancho, Gabriel Martinelli and even Vinicius Junior quiet in recent matches. However, Inter do not play wingers, and lack pace up front, so it could be argued that the other 2, who are naturally centre backs, would be better suited for this opponent and helping the centre backs in dealing with Inter's 2 physical strikers.

Ake has been arguably the most improved player in the world this season, and even got in the top 3 of the Etihad Player of the Season, alongside Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne. However, he has only recently returned from injury, so won't be as sharp as the other 2, which could be key in a game the size of this one.

And then you have Akanji, who has exceeded all expectations since his £15 million move from Borussia Dortmund on deadline day. The Swiss international has been deemed too good to drop up until this point, and has started all of City's Champions League knockout ties, as well as against Arsenal at home and all 3 Manchester derbies this season. Whilst he is exceptional at full back, however, it could be argued that he's not quite as natural playing there as either Ake or Walker.

No matter the result of this game, City have had an undeniably successful season Winning the league 3 times in a row, as well as beating your biggest rivals in a cup final, adds up to an unbelievable season, whether you're Barnsley or Barcelona.

But to add the club's first UEFA Champions League? Well, that would just make this season go down in history...

Here is the predicted lineup for Manchester City's second ever UCL Final:

When Pep Guardiola confirmed that Stefan Ortega-Moreno would start the FA Cup final last Friday, he also said that Ederson would start the Champions League final, so we think it'd be very surprising if he doesn't stick to his word.

Despite him not being the best fit stylistically for this game, I think we will see Kyle Walker at right back, due to his good form and momentum in recent weeks. John Stones and Ruben Dias are undisputed starters at centre back, with the former pushing into midfield when City have the ball. At left back, I have opted for Manuel Akanji, as he is in a greater rhythm than Nathan Ake, due to the Dutchman's recent bad luck with injuries.

Since the Champions League Final in 2021, Rodri has matured and greatly improved as a player, so we fully expect him to start this match, unlike in 2021. Ahead of him, it should be a relatively straight forward decision, with talismanic figure Kevin de Bruyne starting as the right sided 8, and Ilkay Gundogan starting as the left sided 8, in what could be his final appearance for the club.

Another player who could be wearing sky blue for the final time is Bernardo Silva, who I expect to start on the right wing, despite reports (from questionable sources) in the Italian media that Riyad Mahrez is due to start. The opposite wing is much more tightly contested than a few weeks ago, what with Phil Foden's return to form, but I expect Jack Grealish to start, for his ability to drag players out of position and control the game from the left wing.

With just 1 goal in 7 games, Erling Haaland is going through something of a dry patch. But I am certain he'll start in Istanbul, and even if he doesn't score, his movement and physicality will take up much of the attention of the Inter defence.

City's bench will therefore consist of the remaining 12 players in their 23 man travelling squad: Stefan Ortega-Moreno, Scott Carson, Rico Lewis, Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte, Sergio Gomez, Kalvin Phillips, Maximo Perrone, Cole Palmer, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez.

CMON CITY!!!