• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Inter Milan's preferred Champions League final opponent revealed

Home> Football

Published 09:35 17 May 2023 GMT+1

Inter Milan's preferred Champions League final opponent revealed

Inter Milan vice-president Javier Zanetti has had his say on who he wants his side to face in the Champions League final.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Inter Milan Javier Zanetti has revealed his preference for the club's Champions League final opponents in Istanbul.

Simone Inzaghi's side have reached the final for the first time since the treble-winning campaign in 2010 after knocking off rivals AC Milan 3-0 on aggregate.

Inter won 2-0 in the first leg before Lautaro Martinez sealed the victory with a solitary second leg strike in the Nerazzurri's home game at the San Siro.

It's a sixth Champions League final for Inter, who will play the winner of the second semi-final between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.

Advert

City and Real are evenly poised from the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Kevin De Bruyne cancelled out an equally stunning effort from Vinicius Jr.

Plenty of people think it's City time after falling short in recent years but Zanetti, who captained Inter to glory against Bayern Munich 13 years ago, would rather play them than holders and 14-time champions Real.

Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy

"Great emotion. This group deserved this emotion. Now we wait for tomorrow to discover the opponent but it’s already a lot to have arrived at this moment," the vice-president told Sky Sport Italia after Inter reached the final.

Advert

"I’d like to avoid Real Madrid because this competition seems made for them.

“However, the most important thing is to have arrived here. It was a difficult path, it’s not easy to play a derby in the semifinals. I did and I was defeated in 2003.”

A couple of Zanetti's fellow Champions League winners were in attendance for the historic night on Tuesday, as Wesley Sneijder and Marco Materazzi were both living up with the ultras in the Curva Nord.

Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy

Advert

Romelu Lukaku, back on loan at Inter from Chelsea, came off the bench to set up Martinez' goal. He has never played in a Champions League final before but does not have a preference on who he would like to meet on 10 June.

"It doesn’t matter," Lukaku said afterwards when asked who he would rather play.

"In this stage in your career when you play finals you know you’re going to play the biggest teams. I just want to see a good game to be honest, and then at the end of the day, may the best team win."

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Inter Milan, Champions League, Real Madrid, Premier League, Manchester City

Josh Lawless
Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and WWE. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has covered two WrestleMania events for SPORTbible.

X

@joshlawless_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

18 mins ago
an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • 18 mins ago

    Lionel Messi aimed public dig at PSG as Inter Miami set up awkward Club World Cup reunion

    Lionel Messi's Inter Miami face Paris Saint-Germain in the next round of the Club World Cup.

    Football
  • an hour ago

    Jordan Henderson lined up for shock Premier League return as two clubs look to exploit contract clause

    Former Liverpool captain could be on the way back to England after spectacular Ajax collapse

    Football
  • an hour ago

    Liverpool fans think the club has aimed fresh dig at Trent Alexander-Arnold after Real Madrid move

    The England right-back is two matches into his Real Madrid career, having featured at the Club World Cup.

    Football
  • 2 hours ago

    Viktor Gyokeres transfer saga takes new twist as key phone call 'leaked' amid Arsenal and Man Utd interest

    The Sporting CP striker has been heavily linked with a transfer to the Premier League.

    Football
  • UEFA start discussions to move Champions League final venue
  • AC Milan and Inter Milan didn't always share the San Siro
  • Micah Richards tried to speak Italian to Romelu Lukaku and it was comedy gold
  • Man City's only Champions League winner tried to give his medal away to teammate