By the numbers: Looking ahead to the Champions League final
Manchester City and Inter Milan square off in the big game on Saturday
The biggest game of the European club season will take place Saturday when Manchester City and Inter Milan square off in the Champions League final in Istanbul.
The Ataturk Olympic Stadium opened in 2002 and is home to Turkey’s national team. The venue boasts a capacity of 75,000 and fans from across England, Italy and the world will arrive in the coming days to watch the match.
This is the second major UEFA final to be held at Ataturk Olympic Stadium after Liverpool outlasted AC Milan on penalties in the 2005 final. That epic final — known as the “Miracle of Istanbul” — saw Liverpool triumph after going down 3-0 at halftime.
This year’s edition is also an England-Italy clash. Man City recently won the league-cup double, while Inter Milan finished third in Serie A this season and qualified for next season’s Champions League group stage.
Here’s a statistical preview of the big game:
12 — Haaland’s UCL goals this season
Erling Haaland is having an historic season and he could add his first Champions League trophy to what has otherwise been an amazing nine months for him. Haaland, who has broken scoring records in England, is also this season’s top marksman in the Champions League with 12 goals.
There’s no doubt Haaland will finish top scorer — he is followed by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah with eight goals — but he won’t likely be able to secure the single-season Champions League record of 17 goals by Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2013-14 season.
OPTA pointed out that five of the Norwegian striker’s UCL goals this season came in a single match — a five-goal performance against RB Leipzig in the round of 16 — is one of just three seen in the history of the tournament.
3 — Inter Milan’s UCL titles
Some may see Inter Milan reaching the final something of a surprise. They were, according to some, on the “weaker side” of the bracket. But Inter’s manager Simone Inzaghi has shown that this is a roster built for cup competitions. The team has already won the the Supercoppa Italiana and Coppa Italia this season.
The Nerazzurri have been European champions three times (in 1964, 1965 and 2010). That last title featured Jose Mourinho as manager and a team who that season captured the treble in what can be defined as the best campaign in the Italian club’s history.
Those teams from the mid-1960s that won back-to-back titles took place in another era and featured stars such as Armando Picchi, Sandro Mazzola and Luis Suarez. They were coached by the legendary Helenio Herrera, the man who popularized the defensive tactic known as catenaccio.
2 — UCL titles won by Pep Guardiola
Widely regarded as one of the best managers in the game, Pep Guardiola has won the Champions League twice as a coach. Both came with Barcelona in 2009 and a second two years later.
The UCL won in 2009 was part of a Barca treble that season — a feat never before achieved by a Spanish club — that included winning La Liga and the Copa del Rey. The two trophies Guardiola collected as coach is on top of the one he captured as a player with Barcelona in 1992, the first season the European Champions Cup had been rebranded the Champions League.
Should Man City beat Inter Milan, a third Champions League trophy as manager would put him tied for fourth all time — alongside former AC Milan boss Arrigo Sacchi — among managers who have won major European and international club tournaments.