Jack Grealish makes Inter Milan prediction ahead of Manchester City’s Champions League opener | OneFootball

Manchester City will face a very different contest to the Champions League final meeting with Inter in 2023 when the sides are reunited this week, says Jack Grealish.

It is the first of eight Champions League league phases fixtures being embarked upon by the English top-flight champions, as UEFA revamped their poster European competitions for the foreseeable with the introduction of a wider league format.

As opposed to four-team groups, all teams will now feature in a 36-team table, with clubs finishing in the top-eight places automatically qualifying for the last-16 of the competition, whilst those in places 9 to 24 enter a play-off phase to compete for the knockouts.

Manchester City’s eight-game schedule kicks off this week with a reunion against their memorable Champions League final opponents of 2023, as Inter Milan visit the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.

Looking ahead to the league phase opener against the Italian giants this week, Manchester City forward Jack Grealish has explained that it will be a “special” affair amid memories from the 2023 final in Istanbul.

“It’ll be a special game because last time we played against them it was the day we secured the Treble, one of the best days in a lot of our lives, so it’ll be nice to play them again,” Grealish said.

The City forward continued, “I’m sure the game will be a little more different to what it was that day, it was very cagey that day, with it being the Champions League final, so hopefully we can go out there and perform and get the win.”

Manchester City come into the clash in fine form after their opening four Premier League matches of the new season, failing to drop a single point heading into the section portion of games after the international break.

Having defeated Chelsea, Ipswich, West Ham, and most-recently Brentford, Manchester City lead the division by two-points and face second-placed Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

As for Inter, they have seen a similarly strong start to their Italian top-flight season, winning two of the opening four matches and drawing the other two. A late goal from Denzel Dumfries avoided defeat on Sunday night in a 1-1 draw away to Monza.