9 minutes: Inter definitely, not maybe, aim for the right wing. Another long ball over that wing, Darmian and Thuram run after it. Akanji does well to read the danger, survey it and clear it.

8 minutes: Taremi fires another good shot into City’s half, this time through the middle. He slips past Thuram on the right, but the flag goes up for offside. That’s careless play from Thuram, who was looking down the line and didn’t need to go so early. He had Barella and Çalhanoğlu in attack too. Big chance wasted.

6 minutes: There is some space for Taremi on the left. He ventures into City’s half and then switches to Thuram on the right. Thuram reaches the edge of the box and fires a low drive straight at Ederson, who claims it. An early warning that City will have the lion’s share of possession, but Inter will have something to say on the counter.

4 minutes: De Bruyne lets Grealish slide into space on the left. Grealish turns into the box and rolls to De Bruyne, who is denied a shot on goal by Bastoni, who extends a leg and hooks it away just in time.

2 minutes: The city caresses it around in a reliable manner.

City, get the ball rolling. They are immediately on the front foot. Blue Moon rings around the Etihad.

The teams have been announced! There is a new version of the Champions League out. The City fans don’t like it either. Boo! Inter sport That shirt, while City wear their cream, pink and sky blue fourth kit. They should have asked Johnny Marr to design it.

Pep Guardiola speaks to TNT. “So nice to be here… so nice… we were tested (by Inter) in the final… tonight it’s completely different… the final is the last bullet in the gun.”

Let’s take a quick look inside the Inter dressing room… and maybe this is the first time you’ve seen the Nerazzurri’s new shirt. And you might be thinking, huh? Well, according to the official marketing bumf, it features a “bold geometric pattern that disrupts the traditional vertical stripe design, revealing shapes inspired by the city’s unique skyline, remixed to reflect Milan’s connection to design.” The folks who brought us City’s Haçienda shirt and Manchester United’s stunning effort would like to have a word with you.

City make four changes to the team that started the 2-1 win over Brentford. Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Joško Gvardiol and Rúben Dias replace Mateo Kovačić, İlkay Gündoğan, John Stones and Kyle Walker.

Inter are bringing back a number of stars after their 1-1 draw at Monza last Sunday. Alessandro Bastoni, Piotr Zieliński, Nicolò Barella and Hakan Çalhanoğlu return, but Lautaro Martínez drops to the bench.

The teams

Preamble