Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City start off the new UEFA Champions League by hosting Italian side Inter on Wednesday. The two teams meet again for the first time since the 2023 Champions League final when the Citizens won 1-0 thanks to a goal scored by Rodri in the second half. Guardiola praised Simone Inzaghi’s side during the pre-match press conference, calling them “A historical team, incredible mentality, they are built to win every single game, they are created to win competitions, in the last years they won a lot. They won three Champions Leagues and we’ve only won one so far.”
Here are our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Wednesday, September 18 | Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
- Location: Etihad Stadium – Manchester, England
- Live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Manchester City -190; Draw +390; Inter +475
Don’t miss any of the Champions League. As always, you can catch all of our coverage across Paramount+, CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network all season long.
League phase schedule
Manchester City: S. Bratislava (away), Sparta Praha (home), Sporting CP (away), Feyenoord (home), Juventus (away), PSG (away), Club Brugge (home).
Inter: Crvena Zvezda (home), Young Boys (away), Arsenal (home), RB Leipzig (home), Bayer Leverkusen (away), Sparta Praha (away), Monaco (home).
Team news
Manchester City: Pep Guardiola’s only doubt is Spanish midfielder Rodri, who only played his first 45 minutes of the season over the weekend. Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish will support Erling Haaland in the attacking line.
Possible Manchester City XI: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Rodri, Gundogan; Silva, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland.
Inter: Inzaghi have to deal with the absence of winger Federico Dimarco, who suffered a small injury but didn’t travel to Manchester on Tuesday alongside striker Marko Arnautovic. Denzel Dumfries will play on the right win, while Carlos Augusto will replace Dimarco on the left wing of the 3-5-2.
Possible Inter XI: Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Carlos Augusto; Thuram, Lautaro.
Prediction
Inter are in their best form yet and drew 1-1 against Monza over the weekend. Manchester City are much more in shape and expected to take the first three points of the league phase. Pick: Man City 3, Inter 1.
