Man City coach Pep Guardiola feels that his team’s Champions League opponents Inter Milan have an “effective style of play.”
The City coach spoke to Amazon Prime, via FCInterNews, ahead of the “league phase” opener.
Inter and City kick off their respective Champions League campaigns this evening at the Etihad.
It’s a match in which the Premier League side are, on paper, the favourites.
Particularly considering that it is a home fixture for the Cityzens, they will be aiming to get the same result they have in each of their four league matches thus far.
But City had already gone into the final of the 2022-23 edition of the Champions League with the tag of favourites.
And it is true that City did win that match.
But the Cityzens won by a 1-0 scoreline in a contest that was very much even.
And CIty had to dig in and ride their luck late on, as Inter were able to fashion several good chances to equalize.
Man City Coach Pep Guardiola: “Inter Have An Effective Style Of Play”
A lot of the way that the previous meeting between Inter and City went came down to the Nerazzurri having a gameplan that disrupted the Cityzens in possession.
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi’s 3-5-2 shape allowed for the versatility to cover the whole pitch.
As a result, City were never really able to impose themselves on proceedings as they’d have liked.
And a lot of that has to do with how much work Inter coach Inzaghi has put in to shaping his team in his image.
Ahead of this evening’s match, City coach Guardiola said that “When you play for a lot of years, opponents study you,”
“They try and find ways to stop you,” he continued.
“So you have to try and not let yourself be stopped.”
As far as Inter’s style of play, Guardiola said that “They push a lot in the wide areas.”
“And above all, they have a style of play with a lot of movements and positional interchanges that’s very effective.”