Manchester Metropolis’s bid for a second Champions League crown bought off to a irritating begin as they had been held to a goalless draw by Inter in a repeat of the 2023 remaining.
Each groups squandered quite a few possibilities in a breathless back-and-forth affair on the Etihad Stadium, with Inter defending resolutely earlier than threatening to hit Pep Guardiola’s hosts on the break on quite a few events.
Metropolis’s aim machine Erling Haaland hoped to turn out to be the quickest participant in historical past to attain 100 targets for a European membership, however he noticed a header held by Yann Sommer early on earlier than rolling one other effort narrowly extensive of the publish.
Marcus Thuram flashed a first-time shot over the crossbar as Simone Inzaghi’s males fired a warning shot of their very own, whereas one other Sommer save prevented Phil Foden from capping a pleasant Metropolis transfer with a aim.
Manchester Metropolis and Inter play out a 0-0 draw, however regardless of the dearth of targets, it was an entertaining tussle on the Etihad Stadium.
Erling Haaland should wait till Sunday’s assembly with Arsenal for an opportunity to attain his a hundredth Man Metropolis aim. pic.twitter.com/tkTnsuHC0I
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) September 18, 2024
Inter’s clearest opening got here within the 53rd minute, however former Manchester United defender Matteo Darmian inexplicably tried to discover a team-mate with a backheel when offered with a transparent sight of Ederson’s aim.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan had Metropolis followers respiratory an enormous sigh of aid when he missed one other golden late alternative, sending a wild effort spinning over the crossbar from 10 yards out.
However the final possibilities went Metropolis’s approach, Ilkay Gundogan eliciting enormous groans from the house followers with two misses from short-range headers within the dying seconds.
Knowledge Debrief: Inter make a press release
Metropolis are all the time favourites on their very own turf, however Inter had been anticipated to place up a struggle on Wednesday and so they did exactly that, marking themselves out as potential challengers for the European crown.
It was simply the second time Metropolis had failed to search out the online in 42 house Champions League matches beneath Guardiola, with the opposite being a goalless draw with Sporting CP in 2022.
1 – Inter have drawn their first away recreation towards English groups in Champions League (W4 D5). Route.#UCL #ManchesterCityInter pic.twitter.com/QVZcx8dnwb
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) September 18, 2024
Alessandro Bastoni, Francesco Acerbi and Yann Bisseck impressed within the coronary heart of defence, limiting Haaland to the fewest touches (14) of any starter on both group.
The Nerazzurri additionally provided a risk going ahead, with their 10 first-half makes an attempt making them the primary Champions League guests to succeed in double figures on the Etihad since Monaco in February 2017 (additionally 10).