If the revamped Champions League was supposed to inject the competition with more drama, perhaps Uefa could still savour the scoreline in a stalemate. Manchester City scored 18 goals in their pool matches last season but it was more an indictment of the group stages than an advertisement for it as they cruised through. With a new format, Inter Milan instead illustrated why they had run City so close in the 2023 final. As European heavyweights collided again, English and Italian champions proved evenly matched.
That is a credit to Simone Inzaghi: Inter were expertly organised and, even in a draw, theirs was a triumph of intelligent tactics. They did not merely extend Erling Haaland’s wait to bring up his century of City goals; they outshot Pep Guardiola’s team in the first half and, until a late flurry from the hosts, had more attempts on target. Inzaghi was more animated than Guardiola in the technical areas, too. It symbolised the verve in his side. Quite what it means remains to be seen: these two sides should be assured of a top-24 finish and very probably the top-eight position that will spare them the play-off round.
The new structure was designed with this kind of marquee tie in mind, and not merely in the knockout stages. Inter were nevertheless underdogs, just as they had been in Istanbul. City top the Uefa coefficient. They always tended to top four-team groups, too. They may yet finish first of 36 in the new structure, but it represented an underwhelming start. While City extended their unbeaten run at home to 47 games, this was only the second time in 40 Champions League group matches at the Etihad Stadium that they failed to score. This was not a day when they appeared unstoppable.
Nor after two hat-tricks and a double in three matches, did Haaland. He had a header held by Yann Sommer and, from the edge of the box, shot narrowly wide but Inter marshalled him well. They prevented him from scoring in Istanbul, too. So Haaland is stranded on 99 for a little longer; a nervous time for many a cricketing batter, but probably not for a Norwegian striker.
And without Haaland scoring, no one else did. It underlined that Guardiola is yet to settle on his strongest side. He had not needed to name it for City to amass a 100 per cent record in the Premier League. So this selection was notable for a couple of inclusions – with Jack Grealish and Savinho designed to add width, though neither tormented the Inter wing-backs – and two omissions. Phil Foden is yet to begin a game this season. The Champions League-winning captain Ilkay Gundogan was benched.
Each, however, was introduced after City lacked a threat in the first half, when Savinho and Kevin De Bruyne, who looked injured, were removed. They sparked an improvement and had City’s clearest chances, Foden drilling a shot at Yann Sommer, Gundogan directing an 89th-minute header at the goalkeeper and an injury-time attempt over the bar. Sommer also saved well from Josko Gvardiol, but he was scarcely overworked. City may have sensed a repeat of the 2023 final when Rodri, their matchwinner then, let fly, but his shot whizzed past the post. Otherwise, the Spaniard looked rusty on his first start of the campaign.
And Inter excelled. In part, that came from a defensive excellence that conformed to Italian stereotypes. But they had a threat, too, and a capacity to find space in possession. They showed ambition on the counter-attack. The elusive frontrunner Marcus Thuram angled two shots just wide of the goal.
There was an intelligence whenever Inter broke. It sometimes involved wing-backs timing their run into the City box and Ederson blocked a shot from the overlapping Carlos Augusto. On the other flank, Matteo Darmian defied his age with a vibrant display. The former Manchester United defender attempted an audacious effort from an acute angle after Ederson’s miscued clearance, with Josko Gvardiol providing a rescue act to head away, and Inter could rue the moment when Darmian, free and the City box, backheeled the ball to Grealish instead of shooting.
Inzaghi had a fine bench, too, and turned to it. When substitutes combined, Denzel Dumfries speeding clear on the right flank, Henrikh Mkhitaryan blazed over. Lautaro Martinez, who had been benched, emerged to test Ederson in the final minutes.
It was still City, with Gundogan’s ability to sniff out an opening, who eventually looked more likely to pilfer the points. If it offered Guardiola food for thought for Arsenal’s visit on Sunday, with Gundogan’s display suggesting he should start such a defining fixture, it also brought something different to the Etihad Stadium. For now, City, the 2023 champions and many people’s favourites, stand 12th in the table. They are unlikely to stay there but the Champions League has changed. And as the goals didn’t go in, that may have been welcomed in the corridors of power.