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Topics: Inter Milan, Manchester City, Erling Haaland, Champions League, Pep Guardiola
Ryan Smart
Topics: Inter Milan, Manchester City, Erling Haaland, Champions League, Pep Guardiola
Inter Milan have devised a 'secret plan' to try and stop Erling Haaland during tonight's Champions League final against Manchester City.
The Serie A giants will know that keeping Haaland quiet at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul will be key to their hopes of lifting their fourth Champions League crown.
The Norwegian has scored 12 goals in this season's competition, four more than any other player.
And with City likely to have plenty of the ball in Istanbul, it will be up to Inter to stop their opposition's attacking threats, such as Haaland, from having a major impact on proceedings.
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Inter go into the final as underdogs, but manager Simone Inzaghi has an impressive record in cup finals. He has lost just one final out of the eight he has taken charge of - the 2017 Coppa Italia final against Juventus when he coached Lazio.
The Italian, therefore, knows how to set up his team for showpiece events. And speaking to the media ahead of the Champions League final, he revealed that Inter have a plan in place to attempt to stop Haaland - but didn't go into too much detail.
Inzaghi explained (quotes via Daily Mirror): "We have set up something [to stop Haaland]. I have prepared something.
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"But it will involve the whole team and it will be down to them to defend together, not just against Haaland, but the entire City team."
He added: "We know we will be playing the best team in the world. But we will give everything to win this game.
"We will have to show all of our fight, desire and spirit to get the result we want."
City boss Pep Guardiola has a good record against Inter, winning two and drawing one of the four games he has managed against them (as per Transfermarkt).
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His sole defeat came in 2010 when Inter, managed by Jose Mourinho, defeated his Barcelona side 3-1 in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.
The second leg at Camp Nou is infamous for Inter's dogged and resilient defensive display. Mourinho's side conceded just one goal under consistently heavy pressure, despite playing 63 minutes with 10 men.
Nerazzurri supporters will hope for a similar spirit from their side tonight. However, as Inzaghi says, they will need 11 players on the pitch to carry out their plan.