How One Simple Change Made Man City European Champions

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Manchester City finally put an end to their european struggles, clenching the Champions League final in a surprisingly even match-up against Inter. What was expected to be a one-sided affair actually turned out to be a thrilling tactical battle, and Inter made Man City’s life extremely difficult, whilst also having some incredible chances that could’ve taken the game into extra time. So how was it that Inter frustrated Man City for the majority of the match, and what half time fix by Pep led to their eventual downfall? Let’s take a look.
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Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:46 Formations
01:15 How Inter Frustrated City
03:13 Inter In Possession
04:03 Pep's Solution
05:12 Were Inter Unlucky?

[@SeverinoCatule]

Akanji the bargain of the season, props to the scout team

[@TheOutlierToday]

He wasn't amazing in the game, tho. Great signing still

[@moisetalbert2123]

Pep makes everyone great otherwise Akanji is just average

[@dennishopper1410]

@@moisetalbert2123 exactly this. Akanji went to sleep on the back pass and almost cost them a goal. People saying that none of the Man United players would make the starting 11 in a man city / man united 'best of'. Not disputing how good City are, but I think almost any of them could do if they were in Pep's system and under his direction. Jack Grealish 'couldn't make' the starting 11 last season; 12 months under Pep and he's played and won a champions league final. It's freakish. Unlike Mourinho, Pep has maintained his brilliance for almost 2 decades now...

[@gato69xxx56]

Akanji nearly cost them a goal😂 people say the stupidest Sh1t ever for likes

[@MrJoromekiq1]

I think the bargain of the season was Alvarez. Akanji made 2 giant errors in the final. Almost costed City the game

[@iblaze1085]

Almost poetic,how pep tried numerous tactics b4 ,but eventually found success with the original formation of his system, the Cruyffan diamond , the goal scorer being the one position he played himself all his years

[@superslayerguy]

Damn that's some cool shit

[@iblaze1085]

@@superslayerguy Also can't seperate jersey no: 16 and historic goals First PL : Aguero with jersey 16 scored the winner First UCL : Rodri's no. 16

[@redarkhon482]

I'm no expert but one thing i noticed in yesterday's game was that Inter players were pressing harder than city one, trying to take the ball from the player himself, while city were more into trying to cut the passes with their wall of players in the mid field, which inter easily countered with long passes. inter was bypassing the midfield too easily in my opinion. Good game from both teams.

[@gato69xxx56]

That’s what city wanted Inter to do. Inter was more intense in their pressing which was risky because it could lead to gaps such as the play that led to haalands shot and fodens turn and weak shot. City defended the space rather than the player which was the way to do it. So many times you would Inter having the ball on the wings with minimum press but that’s what city wanted, they couldn’t risk getting out of position. They rather defend the crosses

[@jakadalla]

One of the biggest challenge for city in this game was Onana. He was the 12th man. City couldn't press high on the pitch like they always do because of Onana. He is so good with the ball and his passing range and accuracy great. Pep even mentioned this in one of his pressing conferences.

[@novas702]

actually 3-5-2 formation defensive counter attack which Inter used is actually counter formation to city's one (both 4-3-3 and 3-2-4-1)

[@gato69xxx56]

@@jakadalla but even with onanas skill to distribute, he didn’t use to his advantage. So many times he would have barella open but insisted for the men up top which didn’t make any sense because it was more of 50/50 duel

[@gato69xxx56]

@@novas702 I don’t even think it comes down to formation. Teams don’t stick to formations because of the Constant player movement from the opponent. A lot just has to do with making sure your players are smart enough to read the situation. So many teams have used a 541, 352, 442 and it doesn’t work. A lot just comes down to training and Simone nailed it with his players, really good coach

[@hungotuan4431]

Inter met the diamond shape of City before. In Inter's group stage loss against Bayern, Nagelsmann pulled out a similar card to counter Inter’s mid block. Inzaghi sure did his research!

[@iblaze1085]

Xavi also played a 343 diamond and scored 3..but they were poor defensively

[@nunkatsu]

I wonder if man city would have won had Nagelsmann stayed at Bayern. Their performance against PSG made the frenchies piss their pants in fear of the mia san mia

[@zeded509]

​​@@nunkatsu City would have teared Bayern apart with both Julian and Thomas incharge

[@Hentzau.]

​@@zeded509We will never know

[@zeded509]

@@Hentzau. we do

[@agostonpad4183]

I was surprised how well inter adapted to this diamond shape in the first half, i knew when i was watching the game that it was a tactical war, and wasnt that exciting to watch, but exciting to see who is the better team and who has the better tactic. A 7-8 out of 10 propably imo.

[@gato69xxx56]

The tactical battle made it exciting

[@personal3229]

Watching the game without understanding what was going on would be boring. But that game was probably one of the most exciting games I’ve ever watched. The tactical war and the constant adjustments between the two were so tense. Game could’ve gone either way, though I thought Inter would win considering how solid their defense was in the first half. But that tiny switch Pep made with Stones sealed the game for City I think. Alas, incredible game for an incredible final between two incredible teams!

[@floodnation908]

It just shows that football has changed drastically especially these past 15 years. Everyone was expecting a low block inter who was just only going to counterattack and play dirty by winning fouls here and there. But no they went head to head and i was actually surprised and impressed by their display. This match showed that mourinho's style in 2010 will never work again in this day and age.

[@wesleymalutama3651]

LOL

[@Galermolat]

Idk about that. With the right team mourinhos tactics can still work for one shot games. His inter team was built for it

[@shilpikvs2009]

This was far different from mourinho tactics though

[@KillZon3Clan]

lol inter played very dirty in the first half. City was trying to make deep runs in behind by long balls but inter avoided these attacks by fouls. I was shocked that not a single inter played got a yellow card in the first half. Could‘ve been a different game if inter got some cards in the first half.

[@floodnation908]

@@Galermolat mourinho's style is dead

[@azimyazit1975]

I also didnt expect Inter would play this well considering how Inter final league game was very average. That sums up my thought then that they will not able to match with Man City. But i did have to remind myself that Inter is a defensive team & Serie A is a defensive league, and this was what happened in that game. The pressing was a success and every outlet was covered. I think the key component in defense was the marking on Haaland, Gundogan & KDB and likewise Dias defensive effort on Inter. I think what let Inter not winning the game was Lukaku not effectively holding up the ball as well as Dzeko and poor quality crosses supply from both fullback. Despite almost making a comeback, especially the last save, there were about 3-4 chances Inter could have scored earlier. I was a bit surprise that Mancity didnt change their structure a lot. We can see obviously they didnt process the ball as normally as they would do. Especially when building up from the back where you can see all players and passing lanes are covered. But as further the games went by, I can start to understand why it happened because they know that they are a quality side with quality individuals. The goal was capitalised on the very few mistakes Inter has made, and that shot was superb quality.

[@sbabzy]

Nerves and anxiousness played a big part on City players, the weight of history and the champions league. Now they have tasted success. They will be a more formidable team in Europe. All they needed was 1..

[@opetimistic]

Agreed. Especially as they lost their first final just two years ago

[@rafikz77]

Anyone who expected a 4-0 win clearly doesn’t watch football

[@awesimo4684]

It's not even that complicated. City's spankings of Madrid and Bayern where done at the Ethiad. Their form away from the Ethiad has been considerably less convincing. Even Leipziig, whom they spanked 7-0 at the Ethiad, was just a 1-1 draw in Leipzig. Of course, going to Madrid and Munich and getting draws is still pretty good.

[@CM-pu9gg]

Could have easily been 4-0 if the city players turned up. They couldn’t get going and still won the game. Inter won’t get close to champions league final for many seasons, it was a one off this season 100%

[@rafikz77]

@@CM-pu9gg It’s called nerves and it’s part of the game Inter had a great game p’an and are tough in Cup games If anything it’s Inter that should have won but Lukaku and Lautoro missed sitters

[@garyanderton]

@@awesimo4684 Madrid also played with Kroos as their DM, getting completely overrun in midfield. I'm not sure the same would have occurred with Tchouameni or Casemiro. They conceded 4 last year with Kroos as their DM, but managed to score 3 of their own.

[@TheShamansQuestion]

Yeah I guess everyone in the world except you and 63 others are fake football fans 🙄

[@anthonymwanje8398]

Insightful analysis of tactics. Thank you 👏👏

[@Galermolat]

Big respect to inter they put up a fight and had a legitimate shot at upsetting

[@leocvlarjo]

The box at the center. One of the tactical revolutions of the season. By the 3-2-4-1, an formation much very similar to the WM of Herbert Chapman, most used at the 1930s. And so the solution against inter, use the Diamond of Cruyffs era. Guardiola is a connoisseur!

[@davidharper7591]

I thought, foden coming on and switching with silva allowing foden to run at them through the middle changed the game, he had a chance to score also, but game was side to side first half and city struggled to break inter down and distrupt there shape, also inter missed some great chances, so sometimes need luck on your side on the day

[@N0Xa880iUL]

Respect to Inzaghi and Inter Milan.

[@commentarytalk1446]

One of the best visuals of the game and top quality analysis. The pitch being slippery made an impact (falling over players and ballooning long balls and corners). City after going up showed a lot of inexperience in managing the game doing the usual of inviting the losing team to get back in the match and not control possession and reduce tempo.

[@opetimistic]

I don't think there was inexperience on City part after going ahead. It's normal for a trailing team to have a resurgence after conceding to try and equalize especially in a final, except they're total shite. The only reason why it may have looked that way was because Foden didn't score his chance. Credit to Onana for the save.

[@remarkablemoonwalker]

Well said, Adediran💯. There was no portrayal of "inexperience" from neither Pep nor City. This was a match between the best team and a close 2nd best team--currently. Foden could've easily made the game 2-0 with that stunning turn and dribble as well as an equalizer from Inter players. Also, Inter was not an easy opponent for the simple fact their manager Inzaghi has never lost a final before this UCL final. His record was 7 finals win out of 7. Of course his team would press super hard for an equalizer. Nothing to do with inexperience. Tactical war it was.

[@commentarytalk1446]

@@opetimistic That's not joint-up thinking. Foden should have put the game to bed at 2-0. However in the closing minutes, City who have high ball-retention ability completely lost that and shrunk back deep. Pep even mentioned this problem in his press talk afterwards...

[@commentarytalk1446]

@@remarkablemoonwalker I think it must be inexperience due to their nerves and losing their game management. Having won the final now, it will be interesting to see more confidence in big finals and killing such a game. You say Inter were second best: Only testing against Bayern or Real would clarify that claim. I doubt inter would have beaten Real and Bayern depending on manager at the time might have had more than enough to beat Inter also. It's a claim without validation and more to do with sentiment imho.

[@opetimistic]

@@commentarytalk1446 some pragmatism is necessary to win a final match of such magnitude. In 90 minutes of playing Man City were lucky to be ahead by a lone goal, and were lucky that Inter couldn't capitalize on their blunders to take the lead for themselves or level the scores. Would you rather have them going all out attack in the last few minutes, when they have struggled all day to impose themselves on the game and probably concede a late equalizer to a swift Inter counterattack? I rather have them win it this way, than lose it trying to play fantasy football. Even at that, with the magnitude of chances Inter had and couldn't convert, it would have been a deserved loss had Man City lost the final, but the universe said it was their time, probably because they have suffered enough.

[@zeluis9219]

I noticed too the new positions on 2nd half either frim Gundugan and Stones. In fact, Stones surprised as a joker to play active help up front. And that changed the game City wasn't able to dominate in 1st half though with more possession. Simply, too, Inter couldn't sustain their agressive pressing up front. And the wall ruined behind. City deserved winners, though Inter's final push kept the result in doubt till the end when tactically they couldn't in fact change the game

[@JonaAngela-ls4dw]

Thanks so much for the content sir

[@nvmitchell2]

This a great break down keep up the good work

[@FootballMeta]

thanks bro

[@hashimkimwaga1864]

Inter lacked a good finisher to make the most of the few chances

[@kimberleynorthwood7637]

Excellent content. How did your team finish the season?

[@FootballMeta]

We made it to the playoffs, which was definitely an overachievement (our objective was to not get relegated lol).. Thanks for asking 🙌

[@maxmoyer]

@@FootballMeta Wow Congrats!!

[@towerdave4836]

A second striker would have been better for City. Kane? Kane is very good at dropping back into midfield, picking up the ball and spraying it wide. Either his marker would have to go with him, releasing more space for Harland and both wingers, or let him go to receive the ball .

[@maxmoyer]

Amazing Video!!

[@rabbarabbi4575]

Always on point mann

[@jan.kowalski]

One thing is to invent weird/ingenious tactics, the other is to have players capable of executing it.

[@danielosdinia4258]

But I guess the players at top level ( EPL) must be able to execute modern tactics. Nevertheless they are paid millions for that purpose!

[@luciustarquiniuspriscus1408]

The tactical change was so effective that Inter ended up with an xG close to two and City close to 1, according to several analyses. Inter scored 0 out of those two xGs.

[@adhnaanahmed5029]

Pls post overview of pep tactics this season which won treble for city

[@rabmccudden683]

Great vid. Inter played fantastic in the final, deserved a goal. But it was peps time again. Citeh are just amazing and Inzaghi did a fantastic job to stop them mostly & set up to create opportunities for the team. A good battle for the neutral. I’m a Utd man so I was an inter fan on the night. But respect to pep & his team. They are so well oiled & ruthless, they’re just too damn good

[@ASN_9320]

brilliant both content and presentation wise

[@FootballMeta]

thanks bro

[@diegojimenez9410]

Can you do a review on the formation 4-1-4-1

[@danielosdinia4258]

I think Inzaghi showed all the EPL managers how to play against Guardiola and this fact likely to make life for Man city hard next season!. For example, Arteta tried to beat Man city with high press but he had no plan for Guardiola’s central double pivots and it cost him the premier league title. I believe now Arteta and Klopp learned how to play against Man city.

[@Omnivrr]

You do know City were more interested in maintaining control because it is a final right? If you think Inzaghi is the first to play 532 against Guardiola then you've been asleep this season.

[@haaland3791]

Try this in premier league you will see pep did this cz it was final

[@danielosdinia4258]

@@Omnivrr Was it a final just for City? Inter were playing in Sunday league?!

[@Vendrek]

I agree that Inter Milan looked to be the better side. Man City, especially early in the match, looked very nervous and were making mistakes that you normally would not see from them. Overall it was an excellent game that had great strategy from both side and one to keep you on the edge of your seat.

[@opetimistic]

City lost a final just two years ago, so it was understandable

[@perleon_]

The play in the build up to the goal seems very similar to City's Kevin de Bruyne goal against Atletico Madrid's 5-3-2 last season at Etihad. Getting a lateral 2v1 player to provoke a wide centre back to commit. Here it was Akanji provoking a wide CB to jump playing it through half space to Bernardo. In the other match it was Phil Foden provoking a wide man to jump playing it through KDB to tap home. It's not easy but once a wide CB can be exploited on 2v1 numerical advantage, a 5-3-2 can easily be exploited...

[@opetimistic]

Calculus

[@robertlindsay6671]

Excellent analysis

[@ryanfinnerty6239]

Inter & Brentford showed how to play against this team.

[@Farrisss]

City usually struggles against 5 defenders like spurs crystal palace etc ..

[@tinsaederesse9173]

2 wingbacks are hard. Consistently lost, struggled against tuchels Chelsea 343

[@DezzRSA.]

Turn the tie around put city in inter's position you were gonna say City are bottlers not unlucky. If Foden scored that goal he would have killed that game. Inter only had those 2 headers as clear chances. It would have been 2-2

[@bondarkenergy]

It was a very tactical match, inter just couldn't hit the net..and city made the best of their's.

[@paochongloi596]

If City weren't nervous it would've been different. Inter really well done Overall.

[@JoeScottish]

Man City deserved to win...they knew what Inter were going to do, and all week they've been saying so... Inter had nothing to lose, and did their best of killing the game, and City had a nervy performance as the pressure of the treble and first Champions League took hold. Ultimately Inter never looked like winning, their first half of diving at every opportunity and wasting time and playing for penalties was ruined when they lost a goal. After that they went for it as they had nothing to lose. They had one decent chance when Lukaku's header was saved by Emerson and that was that. FIrst hald Silva could have scored early, Haaland could have scored and Foden could have scored 2nd half. Thankfully the best team in Europe for the past 5 years finally got their trophy.

[@sadik_3]

can you do simone inter tactics

[@JoaoVitor-sn3ix]

Video suggestion: a complete tactical analysis about Cruyff's Barcelona

[@sbabzy]

Kyle walker should have started in place of Ake in my opinion

[@zeded509]

Another reason Man City players were very tired too much games this season and 3 competition

[@Plato3745]

Great analysis bro. Manchester city finally won the ucl

[@vfactor9090]

city had also some great chances but they didn't finish...Halaand shot struck goalkepper and Phil fodden with a clear cut chance.....

[@opetimistic]

True

[@acittaepulecenella91]

For the season they’ve had, City deserved the title, but for the game, Inter played really well and thay deserved it.

[@ayeshahumayun1703]

Going back to classic in Champions league final. Pep has gone full circle😃.

[@StefenP]

Inter was about to equilise 3 times, and in my opinion, it was just about bad luck that they didn't manage to equilise. I don't see any genius idea from Pep. To be honest it was Inzaghi binding them for most of the time. They have beaten 4-0 Real Madrid... they won against FC Inter with a wonderful gol out of a lucky situation... and then they suffered the powerful comeback... no mate. Pep suffered a lot this Final.

[@MrSitemaster2]

To me Inter looked like they came for a 0-0 and penalties, so I'm glad ManC scored first as this forced Inter to open up an make it a better game.

[@bench9967]

If Pep decided to play like usual. Inter might had been smash like Real Madrid. In this final i can see pep want his team to play safe and release the ball and shoots early. No need possesion. 😂 I think if City play final UCL next season they will play like usual. They already has CL.

[@giovannidepetris6335]

To be honest Inter deserved more than city

[@FootballMeta]

They were definitely unlucky, I didn't expect them to play so well

[@pr3mraj3ndran]

Tbh Lukaku single handedly bottled it for Inter, he’s a finished striker ngl

[@Farrisss]

Not City fault that Inter sucks at finishing though.

[@doml8959]

No they did't because although they had better chances, they weren't clinical enough. You could argue that City deserved it more because of their route to the final and how they destroyed Bayern and Real... 2 of the top 3 teams in Europe. There's no denying that City are currently the best team in Europe, even if they lost that final, no one in their right mind would say Inter are better than City... just City had a bad day at the office

[@radianfahmi9315]

True inter dominate city. They just lack creativity and clinical finishin at the front

[@Mike-mm4mx]

As a Man City supporter, I couldnt watch the last couple minutes on tv as my nerves were shredded! I think it was inevitable we would win the European championship eventually and this time, as Pep put it, 'it was written in the stars' but you do need a bit of luck too!

[@opetimistic]

Of course, luck waa heavily on City's side, because it was their time

[@dennardleonard1228]

Congrats CITY

[@kakigame9521]

When football started in 1800s, player just go barging the ball like village boy and now it is the most complicated game I have ever seen.. haha 😂

[@tsurumichan]

I do not know the stats, but I am sure Rodri had the least touches in the first half of this match than any other match all season long. At halftime I said, need more Rodri.

[@tsurumichan]

Inter played extremely well, in an Italian way. And City were poor until Foden cam on. However, City were still subpar, but that was the tactic = patience. Lacking more high octane thrust attacks

[@allenkaranja1804]

Good content. CAN BE A COACH ONE DAY

[@ahmedjan5813]

Reality is that Lukaku was wild card for city

[@mbomba4415]

I am not sure it all Guadiola, inter had the better chances but did not score

[@mancuniansplanet6580]

Lucky deflection??????? Rewatch the goal coz I just didn't see any deflection,Rodri used the defenders infront Onana to curl his shot,making it difficult for the keeper to see the ball early enough to try & save it.

[@FootballMeta]

I meant for the pass from Silva that was deflected into rodri

[@brooklynbound1000]

I was hoping for extra time.

[@abduljalilesaid471]

I don't know what's the point in making inter looks as weak as their maximum achievable result is taking the match to the extra 🤔

[@aaa82yt]

it's all about the money, you buy better players and win, simple

[@opetimistic]

Inter played well, but Man City deserved their win, especially as Inter couldn't take the big chances gifted them by Man City blunders

[@user-ic3im7mo4p]

NO

[@HT3897]

Pep is the Best manager, he can adapt his team in every situation, he is extremely pragmatic,.

[@stevenjohnson7442]

There was no deflection in the winning goal...Absolutely not! He needs to watch the goal again.

[@FootballMeta]

I meant the pass from B Silva was deflected into rodri, not the shot.. the shot was class lol

[@stevenjohnson7442]

@@FootballMeta okay 👍

[@agenecrobiosis]

Tactical yes, thrilling heck no!

[@lifeinlife24]

Serie A = Tactical League

[@blitz8702]

top class game

[@ahmedcbdicalicali1207]

To be honest Pep must fix his team defence problem if he wants to camback again, in man united game there was big empty area right Infront of the back four,

[@Galermolat]

Peps a straight up genius

[@flux202]

Norwegian robot to boost moral

[@EnlightenedTurtle]

I can point to 115 reasons tbh. 😏

[@paulalexwilson]

Clench? 😆

[@jedidiahe320]

Lukaku lost it not inter 😂

[@stevenwest0]

They dived, cried and stayed on the floor for 70 minutes. That's what was clear

[@mushahidaslam9698]

City players were overburdened with bad patch in champions league and under pressure of must win While inter with open mind of might or might not option....coming through ajax benefica while drawing barca and loosing bayern .... While City outpast bayern and real ....true deserving City While Good effort by inter to make final excited 🎉🎉

[@mattkirkhamm]

I love how this “new tactic” looks a lot like a real old formation called the W M

[@JustSomeObject]

Pure luck man city won

[@gabrielemusacchia5338]

Lukaku Made them champions

[@cliveshell5543]

This sanitary analysis does not mention Inters 17 fouls which slowed the tempo. If there was a penalty for 10 team fouls then we might see more football

[@lobachevscki]

And 11 from City. Whats the allowed amount for you? 10 then? 11? 12? Inter got 3 yellows and City 2 which is a higher rate so do we conclude that City was the dirty side then? First: both team put a high pressing fooball so things got dirty for both, this is to expect but second of all: defensive football is not less football. You might not like it, thats ok, but it is football. Good for City, but they werent the better team nor the 'cleanest'.

[@a-manthegeneral]

@@lobachevscki Ref didn’t blow the whistle for some fouls against City which were yellow worthy while giving every single contact the way of Inter

[@cliveshell5543]

@@lobachevscki You just did a fine job of ignoring the fact that Inter committed 17 fouls which slowed the tempo of the game. It's not an opinion of mine its just a fact. The expert analysis in the video neglected to mention it so I am querying why the author didn't think it was important.

[@lobachevscki]

@@cliveshell5543 I said 'and City...' Im not ignoring anything, I said City is equally to blame, again, both teams pressed high which is the reason that made the game so dirty. You are just not reading.

[@lancerhu8107]

The foul against Grealish should definitely have been Yellow. Other calls are fine. With that yellow, City would have been much more brave on the left

[@Unitedtrendstv]

Amidst all this we still love Manchester United 🥰, If you are with me Like this Comment 🧉

[@superegoaccelerant3130]

did city deserve to win? Duh!

[@rabbarabbi4575]

Isnt it time an English manager should win the EPL or the UCL ??

[@Farrisss]

I dont think there is an English manager got the ucl.

[@okflyaway99]

​@@Farrisss Nottingham Forest won two UCLs with their English manager.

[@levyzach8485]

@@okflyaway99 i would say Ferguson, and then i remember he is Scottish.

[@levyzach8485]

I don't think Coaching is their strongest suit.

[@dzemilmehovic5271]

​@@FarrisssBob Paisley, Brian Clough, Tony Barton, Joe Fagan. Thats it i think tho

[@zl2859]

pep is beyond overrated. seriously underachieves considering how much better his roster is than everyone else in the world. ANY coach could have won the UCL with that team.

[@levyzach8485]

As Inter fan, congrats to City. I can see them winning their 2nd in next CL. but yes, Guardiola is not really that special.

[@HarryUnchained]

cry more

[@kiestbenny5482]

Lol we all know the god of as Roma is special....but FC Sevilla begs to differ.

[@Leonidas-eu9bb]

a nerd who haven't played the game at a decent level. or haven't played the game at all. tactics are very overrated in football/soccer.