Man City & Spain Star Ahead Of Champions League Showdown Vs Inter Milan: ‘We Rewatched Final Yesterday, They Have Many Key Players’ | OneFootball

Man City midfielder Rodri feels that Inter Milan “have many key players” after rewatching the last Champions League meeting with them.

The Spaniard gave his thoughts ahead of tomorrow evening’s match in a press conference, as reported by FCInterNews.

Inter and Manchester City kick off their respective Champions League campaigns tomorrow at the Etihad.

The match is arguably the marquee clash of the first round of the “league phase” in the competition.

This will be a rematch of the final of the 2022-23 edition of the competition.

That match saw City prevail. But they only did so by a narrow 1-0 scoreline after what had been a very even match between the two teams.

Last season, neither Inter nor City were able to reach the final again.

Both happened to go out on penalties against teams from Madrid. Inter were eliminated by Atletico, whilst City went out to eventual winners Real.

Man City Midfielder Rodri: “Rewatched 2023 Final, Inter Have Many Key Players”

This time around, both Inter and City will be looking to get to the final again.

And tomorrow’s match could well be an early bellwether for the latter stages of the competition, between two of the teams tipped as favourites to win it all.

City midfielder Rodri noted that “We rewatched the final from Istanbul yesterday.”

“They have many key players. They’re great in transition, they know what do do with the ball, they’re good defensively.”

Rodri noted that “They have several stars, like Lautaro.”

“And then top players in midfield, like Barella and Calhanoglu.”

Rodri, who scored the winner in the 2023 final, said that Inter are “A great team.”

“I don’t think they just have one star player. Their focus is on teamwork.”

“We have to play against a wall,” Rodri anticipated. “We know how Italian teams defend.”

As far as Inter’s midfield, Rodri said that “They have the same players as in recent years, except for Brozovic.”

“I know them very well,” the Manchester City and Spain midfielder said. “I know the quality they have both defensively and in attack.”

“They have excellent players. They know how to control the game, and how to switch from defense to attack.”

Rodri remarked that “They’re very good in midfield. But so are we. It will be a good match.”

Meanwhile, the Manchester City midfielder also responded to the ranking of top holding midfielders in the world from Inter’s Hakan Calhanoglu.

Calhanoglu put himself at number one, and Rodri at number two.

“What can I say?” Rodri responded. “These are opinions that I respect.”

“I’m not here to judge other players,” he added.