Manchester City to face Inter Milan in Champions League final

Manchester City's Julian Alvarez celebrates scoring his side's fourth goal against Real Madrid in a UEFA Champions League semifinal at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Wednesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Manchester City will face Inter Milan in the final of the 2022-23 Champions League after beating reigning champion Real Madrid 4-0 in the second leg of the semifinals on Wednesday.

City made short work of Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, with a brace from Bernardo Silva and goals from Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez for a decisive 4-0 win, even as the visitors were able to keep the likes of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne quiet.

That win gives City a 5-1 victory on aggregate, having drawn 1-1 at the Bernebeu in Madrid on May 9.

City reach the final this year after crashing out in spectacular fashion last year, when they were winning 5-3 on aggregate against Real Madrid going into added time before Rodrygo scored twice to tie the score at 5-5 and trigger extra time. Karim Benzema then scored a penalty to take Real through to the final and end City’s dreams.

Inter Milan advance to the final after beating local rivals AC Milan 3-0 on aggregate in a rare Champions League Milan derby, with a 1-0 win on Tuesday on top of a 2-0 win on May 10. Both games were, of course, played in front of a home crowd, with the two Milan clubs sharing the San Siro stadium.

The semifinal results set up an exciting Champions League final between two major European clubs that have not traditionally been big players on the continental scene.

City, undoubtedly the most dominant English club of the last decade, are yet to win a single Champions League title. The English side has only made it to the final once, in the 2020-21 campaign, when they lost 1-0 to Chelsea at Estadio do Dragao in Porto, Portugal.

Inter Milan have had far more success in the tournament, but not in recent years.

Inter have appeared in five Champions League finals, in 1963-64, 1964-65, 1966-67, 1971-72 and 2009-10. They won three of those, most recently in the 2009-10 campaign when they beat Bayern Munich 2-0 at the Bernabeu.

The 2022-23 Champions League final will be played at Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on June 10, or at 4 a.m. on the morning of June 11 in Korea.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]