Manchester City and Inter clash in Saturday’s Champions League final in Istanbul with the English side, under Pep Guardiola, strongly fancied to win European club football’s biggest prize for the first time.

The match at the 75,000-seat Ataturk Olympic Stadium, kicks off at 21.00 (1900 GMT) in the Turkish metropolis and brings the curtain down on a season that has stretched almost into mid-June after the long interruption for the World Cup.

City have spent the last decade chasing this trophy having been transformed following an Abu Dhabi-backed takeover in 2008.

Also-rans before Sheikh Mansour arrived, they are now England’s dominant force, fresh from winning a fifth Premier League title in six seasons.

Guardiola, chasing the third Champions League crown of his coaching career, has built a side that is playing arguably the finest football of any team since his great Barcelona of a decade ago.

Now they are through to their second Champions League final in three seasons, two years after losing to Chelsea in Porto, and are hoping to complete a treble after securing the Premier League and FA Cup.

The last English team to win that treble was Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, in 1999.

Read full story on www.sportsdesk.com.mt

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