Yahoo Sports Rodrigo starts as City make four changes for Inter clash
Rodrigo will make his first City start of the 2024/25 season in tonight's Champions League clash with Inter at the Etihad Stadium.
The Spaniard has played just 45 minutes of the new campaign - the second half of Saturday's win over Brentford - after an extended break following his triumphant Euro 2024 in the summer.
His addition is one of four changes Pep Guardiola makes to his team after that Brentford victory.
Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva also come into the XI, with Kyle Walker, John Stones, Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan dropping to the bench.
Rodrigo has incredible memories of playing Inter after scoring the winning goal in the 2023 Champions League final against tonight's opponents.
Tonight's match also represents our first outing in the new-look Champions League, with all 36 teams entered into the same league and each side playing eight times.
The top eight will go straight through to the Round of 16, with sides placed 9-24 heading into a play-off round.
Teams
CITY XI: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Rodrigo, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Savinho, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Walker, Stones, Kovacic, Doku, Gundogan, Nunes, Foden, McAtee
INTER XI: Sommer, Bisseck, Bastoni, Acerbi, Darmian, Augusto, Zielinski, Calhanoglu, Barella (C), Taremi, Thuram
Subs: Di Gennaro, J. Martinez, Dumfries, De Vrij, Martinez, Frattesi, Asllani, Mkhitaryan, Pavard
WATCH: City v Inter: Champions League returns with memories of our greatest night
Tactics
Ahead of Ederson, Rico Lewis will move to right-back after playing on the left on Saturday. Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias will be in the middle, with Josko Gvardiol on the left.
In midfield, it appears Rodrigo will be flanked by Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva with Savinho and Jack Grealish on either wing in support of Erling Haaland.
The prolific Norwegian's next City goal will see him become the 19th man to 100 in City colours.
Special memories
Tonight is only the second competitive meeting of City and Inter, with the first coming in the 2023 Champions League final.
The Italian giants are still strikingly similar to that night, with manager Simone Inzaghi and many of the key players in position.
It was a nervy night in Istanbul 15 months ago, but any future meeting with Inter will forever evoke those memories of the final whistle.
Definitely City
It's the first Etihad outing for our brand new Definitely City kit after it was also worn by our women's team in their Champions League qualifier in Paris earlier this evening.
The Definitely City kit, unveiled today alongside global sports company PUMA and co-designed by Noel Gallagher, will be worn exclusively in select European fixtures.
BUY THE DEFINITELY CITY KIT NOW
The design of the new kit, available now, features a bold aesthetic that echoes the iconic imagery of Definitely Maybe, paying tribute to Oasis and the city of Manchester.
The Definitely City kit and collection is available from the City Stores (Etihad Stadium, Arndale Centre and Rockefeller Center NYC) and mancity.com/shop with free delivery for online orders over £90/$130/€100.
Season Ticket holders and Members get 10% off.
WATCH: City and PUMA launch 2024/25 Definitely City kit in collaboration with Noel Gallagher
Match stats
The only previous European encounter between Manchester City and Internazionale was in the 2023 UEFA Champions League final, won 1-0 by City thanks to a Rodrigo goal.
Inter have won away at four different English teams in the UEFA Champions League (Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool) and could become the fourth team to win at 5+ English teams, after Barcelona (7), Real Madrid (5) and Bayern Munich (5).
Inter have only lost three of their last 20 UEFA Champions League matches (W11 D6). They’ve only started one of their last nine campaigns with a win, however, beating Spurs 2-1 in 2018-19 (D5 L3).
Among managers to oversee 50+ games in the UEFA Champions League, Pep Guardiola has the highest win percentage in the competition (63.7% - 109 wins in 171 games).
Manchester City had the best pass completion rate under high-intensity pressure of any side in the UEFA Champions League last season (89.9%). In fact, our accuracy under high-intensity pressure was better than 30 of the other 31 sides last term for their overall pass completion rate (Real Madrid the exception – 90.2%).
Among players to make 50+ appearances in the UEFA Champions League, only Neymar (0.37) has a better assists per game ratio than Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne (0.35 – 25 in 72 games).
Lautaro Martinez has scored in each of the last five UEFA Champions League seasons, with Julio Cruz to only player to score in six consecutive editions of the UEFA Champions League/European Cup for Inter (2003-04 to 2008-09).
Erling Haaland has scored 41 goals in 39 appearances in the UEFA Champions League to date. Among players with at least five games in the competition, he is the only one who has been able to maintain an average of a goal per game (1.05).
Inter’s Yann Sommer had the highest save percentage of any goalkeeper in the UEFA Champions League in 2023-24 (86% - min. two apps), with the Swiss stopper saving 25 of the 29 shots on target he faced last term.
