This season’s Champions League final, the first competitive meeting between treble-chasing Manchester City and underdogs Inter Milan, is finally here. Get ready for Saturday’s match with theScore’s comprehensive preview package.

The lowdown ?

Who: Manchester City vs. Inter Milan
What: 68th European Cup final
When: Saturday, June 10 at 3:00 p.m. ET
Where: Ataturk Olympic Stadium (Istanbul, Turkey)
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
VAR: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (Poland)

How to watch ?

TV: CBS, Univision, TUDN (U.S.)
Stream: Paramount+ and fuboTV (U.S.), DAZN (Canada)

Betting odds ?

Odds via theScore Bet.

Manchester City: -220
Draw: +340
Inter Milan: +550

The latest news ?

Analysis ?

Tactics, key questions, and a prediction in our in-depth preview.

“The fundamentals of Manchester City’s approach haven’t changed. This season, they still led the Premier League in the usual metrics – such as possession and time in the opponents’ half – and remained bottom in statistics such as frequency of long passes and speed of attacks. Continuity is what makes this version of City most different from others during the Pep Guardiola era. There are fewer question marks about what the Spaniard will do for the big matches: Overthinking – a lazy media critique that leaned on the few instances a novel approach went wrong and disregarded the many times a Guardiola tweak paid off – has been increasingly unlikely as the season progressed.” Read more.

Further reading ?

Dive into some of the storylines surrounding the contest.

Injury updates ?

The latest on the lingering lineup questions.

Predicted lineups ?

Manchester City (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake; John Stones, Rodri; Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish; Erling Haaland

Inter Milan (3-5-2): Andre Onana; Matteo Darmian, Francesco Acerbi, Alessandro Bastoni; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Federico Dimarco; Lautaro Martinez, Edin Dzeko

The kit matchup ?

Path to the final ?

Reviewing how both teams got to Istanbul.

Manchester City

Group stage: First place in Group G
Round of 16: Beat RB Leipzig (8-1 on aggregate)
Quarterfinals: Beat Bayern Munich (4-1 on aggregate)
Semifinals: Beat Real Madrid (5-1 on aggregate)

Inter Milan

Group stage: Second place in Group C
Round of 16: Beat Porto (1-0 on aggregate)
Quarterfinals: Beat Benfica (5-3 on aggregate)
Semifinals: Beat AC Milan (3-0 on aggregate)

By the numbers ?

This season’s raw Champions League statistics for the two finalists.

Looking into some advanced metrics.

Tournament pedigree ?

Best European Cup finish for both clubs.

Manchester City: Runners-up (2021)
Inter Milan: Champions (1964, 1965, 2010)

Manchester City, this season’s Premier League and FA Cup winners, have hoovered up silverware since Guardiola’s arrival but continue to chase the big-eared trophy that has, thus far, proven elusive. They’ll be making their second appearance in the final after their narrow defeat to English peers Chelsea in 2021. Inter, meanwhile, have featured in club football’s showpiece match five times before, emerging victorious on three occasions. Simone Inzaghi’s men are also aiming to finish the campaign with multiple trophies after retaining their Coppa Italia crown last month.

Fun facts ?

Manchester City: Guardiola has an opportunity to enter rarefied territory on Saturday. With a victory, the Catalan manager would join Carlo Ancelotti, Bob Paisley, and Zinedine Zidane as the only men’s coaches to win the European Cup three times; Ancelotti is the lone bench boss to hoist it on four occasions. Guardiola, 52, led Barcelona to glory in 2009 and 2011, but hasn’t been able to repeat the feat since. He’ll look to end that drought in Turkey.

Inter Milan: Inzaghi is looking to become the first Italian coach to lead the Nerazzurri to European success. Inter’s previous triumphs were engineered by iconic tactician Helenio Herrera, the Argentine-French coach who oversaw the club’s “Grande Inter” era in the 1960s, and decorated Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho. Mourinho’s 2010 triumph included a famous semifinal victory over Barcelona, then coached by none other than Guardiola.

What they’re saying ?

Guardiola: “Of course we are confident, so optimistic, but at the same time I cannot deny the difficulties and qualities of the opponents … We know a final is about how you behave for 95 minutes. It’s not about history, for history they are better than us. It doesn’t matter what you do in the group stage, last 16, quarterfinals, Premier League, or FA Cup. It’s one single game you have to be better than the opponent.”

Inzaghi: “For us it was a dream but we have always believed in it. I’m proud to be here. Nobody has given us anything, we deserve everything that we have achieved. And now the dream to play the final has come true. It has been an extraordinary path and winning a derby in the semifinal brought particular satisfaction.”

The blue halves of Manchester and Milan are converging on the biggest stage in club football.

Manchester City and Inter Milan saved their first-ever competitive meeting for Saturday’s Champions League final in Istanbul. Beaten 2021 finalists City are still trying to crown Pep Guardiola’s glittering era with their inaugural triumph in European football’s top competition, while Inter are attempting to hoist the trophy for the fourth time after overcoming a 13-year run of failing to advance beyond the quarterfinals.

Here are the key questions and a prediction for the much-anticipated clash in Turkey:

Will Guardiola tweak his system?

The fundamentals of Manchester City’s approach haven’t changed. This season, they still led the Premier League in the usual metrics – such as possession and time in the opponents’ half – and remained bottom in statistics such as frequency of long passes and speed of attacks.

Continuity is what makes this version of City most different from others during the Guardiola era. There are fewer question marks about what the Spaniard will do for the big matches: Overthinking – a lazy media critique that leaned on the few instances a novel approach went wrong and disregarded the many times a Guardiola tweak paid off – has been increasingly unlikely as the season progressed.

Obviously, last summer’s addition of Erling Haaland ended Guardiola’s use of a false nine – and it required various experiments before an effective scheme was devised. To oblige an out-and-out striker who maintains a narrow position and has few touches of the ball, Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish have become the go-to wingers who can track back to cover defensive lapses. Traditional or inverted full-backs are discarded, with four center-backs (including John Stones, whose importance to the team has catapulted since he adopted a hybrid defender-midfielder role) forming a barrier against counter-attacks with defensive midfielder Rodri.

The general formation is a 3-2-4-1, with Stones and Rodri often at the bottom corners of a midfield square with Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne ahead of them. The shape is fluid – this is a Guardiola team, after all – but, in the most basic terms, City have a setup of five defense-minded players behind a fearsome attacking quintet. This is the most defensive organization Guardiola has had at City – but that hasn’t diluted the upfield threat.

Guardiola famously – or infamously – mirrored Lyon’s back-three when City were eliminated in the 2019-20 Champions League quarterfinals, but don’t expect him to make the same mistake against Inter Milan’s 3-5-2 formation. Back then, he switched his defense throughout the season while he dealt with Nicolas Otamendi’s impulsiveness and Aymeric Laporte’s injury problems. Now, he has more trust in his defense than he’s had throughout his City tenure. His recent success with the revised foundation of four center-backs speaks for itself.

Don’t expect a Pep curveball this time around.

Lukaku or Dzeko?

Inter’s biggest selection conundrum is who partners with Lautaro Martinez in attack.

Former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko didn’t get a goal between mid-January and the start of May. However, he started each of Inter’s six Champions League knockout matches and the final two rounds of the Coppa Italia. He’s further enhanced his reputation as a big-game player courtesy of his first-leg volley against AC Milan in the Champions League semifinals and his continued selfless yet eye-catching graft up front.

It’s natural to lean on Dzeko’s aerial attributes given his size, but his passing over medium and long ranges is more accurate than his forward rival Romelu Lukaku. Martinez and the Inter midfielders joining attacks undoubtedly appreciate that distribution.

Lukaku had to wait until Feb. 18 to get his second Serie A goal of the campaign, but his performances since the March international break could force him into the Champions League final lineup ahead of Dzeko. His late-season flurry of nine goals and six assists helped Inter finish third in Serie A and automatically qualify for next season’s Champions League group stage.

And before Lukaku went back to Chelsea in 2021, the Belgian and Martinez arguably formed the best striking duo in Europe. They combined for 41 Serie A goals during Inter’s 2020-21 title-winning campaign.

2022-23 statistics per 90 minutes (all competitions):

“They are two different players,” Martinez said of the strikers who share minutes beside him. “Edin likes to have the ball; he comes to meet and connect play with his teammates, while Romelu prefers to attack spaces and gets behind defenders so he can create space for the other striker. I get along with them very well.”

Dzeko is a better team player, and Lukaku is a more reliable finisher. Simone Inzaghi needs to choose which of these talents is most valuable to have from the start of Saturday’s final.

Is Haaland actually in a goal drought?

Haaland has scored once in his last seven appearances. Over the same span, Julian Alvarez has notched two goals in around 150 fewer minutes.

A similar dry spell earlier in the season would’ve caused legitimate concern. It took just one game – Haaland’s underwhelming debut in City’s Community Shield defeat to Liverpool – for many to predict the Norwegian marksman would have a tough acclimation to English football.

But Haaland has gone on to score 52 times across all competitions, and City are on the verge of a historic treble, so his current drop in productivity isn’t a huge talking point.

And Inter know there’s a lot more to worry about than just Haaland.

“It’s not Haaland versus Inter; it’s Manchester City versus Inter,” Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni said.

Other players have stepped up while Haaland’s scoring output dipped. Silva dizzied Real Madrid with two goals during the second leg of their Champions League semifinal scuffle. Gundogan – who tends to flourish in spring – notched braces in Premier League matches against Leeds United and Everton and in last Saturday’s FA Cup final scuffle with Manchester United, practically securing two-thirds of City’s potential trophy haul in the 2022-23 season.

Haaland has been far from a bystander during the business end of the season, though. When a teammate scores a goal, he’s often sandwiched between two defenders or has been involved in the buildup. His improved link-up play and willingness to attract opponents, giving his colleagues more room, have been key developments late in the season.

The 22-year-old’s drought might drag on in the Champions League final, but it doesn’t matter so much when he’s already improved exponentially in other areas of his game.

Can Darmian and Dumfries silence Grealish?

One side of the pitch could cancel itself out. Federico Dimarco is an important part of Inter’s weaponry when he pours forward, but he doesn’t often face a defender like Kyle Walker. Neymar has previously identified the Englishman as the toughest opponent he’s faced, and Vinicius Junior was regularly outpaced and outmuscled by Walker in the semifinals. The indefatigable Silva, who plays ahead of Walker, boosts City’s sturdiness on this side.

The most intriguing matchup could instead be where City focus most of their attacks: Grealish’s left flank.

Matteo Darmian established himself on the right of Inter’s defensive trio while Milan Skriniar dealt with back issues, and the ex-Manchester United full-back has proven a more proactive tackler than his fellow center-backs. At right wing-back, Denzel Dumfries enthusiastically runs into enemy territory, but his excellent defensive performance over two legs against Milan’s Theo Hernandez was pivotal to Inter’s relatively comfortable progression from the semifinal stage.

Nevertheless, it must be noted that Darmian and Dumfries were spared from facing the true Rafael Leao. The rapid Portuguese wideman was injured for the opening game and then clearly below match fitness for the return leg, significantly lessening the Inter duo’s workload at the back. They didn’t face Milan at their best.

So, Darmian and Dumfries may have never doubled up against a winger of Grealish’s ilk. The floppy-haired playmaker is perhaps most dangerous when natural left-footer Nathan Ake is behind him, overlapping to stretch the defense and pry open holes for Grealish to dribble inside. There, Grealish can slide a ball through to a teammate, shoot with his stronger right foot, or win a foul. The spaces aren’t quite the same for Grealish when the right-footed Manuel Akanji is behind him.

How it could play out

Manchester City are better than Inter Milan. Few would disagree with that.

However, over 90 minutes – or 120 minutes, or 120 minutes plus penalties – anything can happen. Real Madrid were second-best during most of their fortuitous run to last season’s Champions League final, but they still collected their record-extending 14th European crown.

The finalists’ road to Istanbul (with aggregate scorelines):

The job that Inzaghi has done at Inter is underappreciated. He took over a team reeling from the club’s financial issues and dealing with the usual rubble and refuge that Antonio Conte tends to leave behind after his tumultuous reigns. Achraf Hakimi and Lukaku were transferred out the same summer as Inzaghi’s arrival, and Christian Eriksen had to leave because the defibrillator that was fitted after his cardiac arrest made him ineligible to play in Italy. Ivan Perisic left before this campaign.

Despite all of this, Inzaghi has developed a reputation as a cup specialist. He’s won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa twice each with Inter, adding to his achievements during his previous job at Lazio (one Coppa Italia and two Super Cups). He’s now presiding over Inter’s first Champions League final since 2010.

But this is Manchester City – and arguably the most balanced and mature side Guardiola has managed over his seven years with the club. The strength of this team has given the Catalonian the confidence to defend one-goal leads; rather than relying on keeping the ball away from opponents late in matches, he introduces more defenders to tackle and block at one end of the pitch while Haaland wins time-draining corner-kicks at the other end. His game management is much better.

City currently appear to be the complete package. They should have too much for Inter.

Prediction: 2-0 to Manchester City after 90 minutes

Lionel Messi is coming to Major League Soccer.

The Argentine superstar ended months of speculation about his future Wednesday by announcing his intention to play for Inter Miami.

“I’ve made the decision that I’m going to Miami,” Messi said in an interview with Spanish outlets SPORT and Mundo Deportivo, as translated by The Athletic. “It’s still not a done deal 100%. I’m missing a few things, but we’ve decided to keep going down the path.”

Messi, 35, will officially become a free agent when his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires later this month. The Ligue 1 champions said last week that he wouldn’t renew his deal after two seasons in the French capital. Barcelona and Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal were heavily linked with Messi for some time. Al-Hilal reportedly tabled the most lucrative offer, but Messi said he only considered returning to Catalonia. When it became apparent that reunion wouldn’t materialize, he decided on Miami.

“If the Barcelona thing didn’t work out, I wanted to leave Europe, leave the spotlight, and focus more on my family,” he added.

“I had a lot of hope that I’d be able to come back (to Barcelona), but after living what I lived through and the exit that I had (from Barcelona), I didn’t want to come back to be in the same situation: to wait and see what was going to happen or leave my future in the hands of another person.”

This will be the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s first experience playing senior club football outside of Europe following a decorated career at Barca and a brief stint at PSG. In 853 club matches in Europe, he scored 704 goals, recorded 303 assists, and collected 37 trophies.

Inter Miami, sitting in last place in the Eastern Conference, weren’t alone in their quest to sign the most successful player in football history. Adidas and Apple, Major League Soccer’s top commercial partners, apparently contributed to getting Messi to the U.S., according to The Athletic.

Both companies are understood to have played a role in negotiations, with multiple sources telling The Athletic that MLS and Apple discussed offering Messi a portion of the revenue generated from new subscribers to the league’s streaming package on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+. Apple also announced Tuesday that a four-part documentary about Messi’s five career World Cup appearances will be exclusively available on Apple TV+ this year.

Adidas’ bid to convince Messi to move to North America includes a profit-sharing agreement with the German sportswear company, per The Athletic. Messi will reportedly receive a share of increases in the company’s profits pertaining to his transfer to Inter Miami. Messi signed a lifetime footwear sponsorship deal with Adidas in 2017 after initially partnering with the company in 2006.

The Athletic also reports that Messi’s contract is expected to include an option to purchase a stake in an MLS club after he’s finished playing in the league. David Beckham had a similar clause in his deal with the LA Galaxy that allowed him to purchase an expansion team for a discounted fee of $25 million. He and a group of investors were announced as Inter Miami owners in 2014 before the club began play in 2020.

Al-Hilal were in the running to make Messi the latest superstar to join the Saudi Pro League after Cristiano Ronaldo’s and Karim Benzema’s arrivals. The club reportedly offered Messi a more lucrative deal worth €400 million a year, which would’ve doubled the amount of the contracts his ex-Real Madrid rivals received.

But Al-Hilal, one of four Saudi Pro League clubs taken over by the country’s Public Investment Fund earlier this week, recently became worried that Messi lost interest and accepted that they were out of the race to sign him on Wednesday, sources told ESPN.

Barcelona, meanwhile, have repeatedly expressed their desire to re-sign Messi after his 2021 exit. But their efforts to reunite with the 2022 World Cup winner fell short due to the club’s financial constraints. Despite their best efforts to adjust their payroll and make a move for Messi viable under La Liga’s salary cap, the legendary forward didn’t want to wait any longer for Barca to get their house in order.

“Even though I heard that (Barca) said that the league had accepted everything and that everything was OK for me to come back … there were still a lot of other things missing,” Messi explained.

That led him to Inter Miami, who are without a permanent head coach after sacking Phil Neville last week amid the team’s disappointing season. Inter Miami have just 15 points after 16 MLS games.

Messi’s former Argentina coach, Gerardo “Tata” Martino, has held talks about possibly replacing Neville, The Athletic reports.

Messi could reportedly make his Inter Miami debut in the club’s Leagues Cup match against Mexican side Cruz Azul on July 21.