Manchester City

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Manchester City suffered the rare disappointment of a shut out against an impressive Inter Milan in the Champions League - before thoughts turned instantly to Sunday's colossal Premier League meeting with closest rivals Arsenal.

The Gunners were the last side to keep City out at Etihad Stadium in March when manager Mikel Arteta appeared to set up in a manner designed to frustrate Pep Guardiola's side in a goalless draw.

Inter followed suit with similar results and now City will hope to rediscover their lost cutting edge - albeit for only one game - against the north London side.

Will Arsenal and Arteta adopt a bolder strategy on Sunday or will it be same again?

The stage is set for Erling Haaland to go in search of his 100th goal for Manchester City after being thwarted and shackled by Inter's iron defensive discipline, the Italians also showing enough threat on the break to encourage Arsenal.

City had their chances, especially two late headed opportunities for substitute Ilkay Gundogan, and they will be confident they will show a more ruthless edge at the weekend.

Arsenal have shown steel and resilience to emerge with wins from two tough away assignments at Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur but this will be their sternest test yet.

The stakes are always huge in this fixture and they will be for both sides once more, with City intent on making up for this rare blank scoresheet to strike a crucial blow in the title race.

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, speaking to TNT Sports: "We played so good, I love my team, we are a fantastic team.

"Inter are a team who defend really, really well so they are masters of defending and transitionally very strong as well. You cannot expect to make many chances when a team defends so, so deep. I'm really pleased for the performance we have done.

"This is the beginning of the season, Phil [Foden] it's his first game for two months, [Ilkay] Gundogan arrived, the players with more time will be better."

What did he like about the performance: "Everything, absolutely everything."

On the change he made to prevent Inter's counter attack: "When you lose easy balls it is a counter attack, it's impossible to stop it. You have to be more precise. It happened, especially on the left side. You cannot control it."

On how Rodri played: "He played really good, always Rodri plays good."

On why he brought Phil Foden on: "Players in the smaller space have the ability to turn, make the small turn and attack the back five. He moves really well in small spaces. When the team defends so so deep these players are really good at moving in small spaces."

On how Kevin de Bruyne is: "I haven't spoke with the doctors with and I will speak maybe later."

On how helpful it is to get minutes into Foden and Gundogan before playing Arsenal: "Yes, but we'll have more players there so we'll see. It's important to have minutes but they'll get minutes anyway with the amount of games we get."

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Manchester City defender Ruben Dias, speaking to TNT Sports: "Very intense game against a very strong opponent.

"We knew what was coming, they are a strong team as well, they are used to winning. We knew we weren't going to have an easy job. In the end the team had a great performance and we were very close to scoring. We take it and we obviously we move forward. It was a good chance for us to play against such a strong side."

On Ilkay Gundogan chances: "Gundo had two, Phil [Foden] as well and some others that came up but especially these three. It happens and it's football but we're ready for what's next."

On trying to prevent Inter's counter attacks: "We know they can be dangerous in many different scenarios. They have people that know how to keep the ball very well. We know them very well since the final we played against them.

"We know the different ways they can hurt us but in the end we are who we are, we play the way that we play and we deal with it."

On keeping a clean sheet: "These are the ones we loves. These ones make it mean more in terms of keeping a clean sheet so obviously we are happy with the work we did at the back."

On reaching their peak: "The season just started. It's very early stages, we know what we are as a team. Today we played on a very good level. We ended up scoring, we could have but that is football. Obviously there is a lot of margin to progress from our side."

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Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live: "Manchester City didn't do enough to win it.

"Credit to Inter, they made themselves very hard to beat and had some chances themselves, Henrikh Mkhitaryan with a golden chance in the second half.

"A draw is just about right but City were just off the pace. Not a normal Pep-like performance but they have another seven games to retrieve the situation.

"We normally associate Pep Guardiola's teams as quick, slick and incisive but it wasn't there tonight. It was a bit slow and ponderous.

"This Inter team set up well and defended deep, they are well organised and street-wise and did a job on Man City. They a really handy outfit.

"Manchester City will get going in the Champions League, they are too good and have too much quality not to.

"There are easier games coming up for them, next it is Slovan Bratislava, which you think they would win comfortably.

"They will be the team or one of the teams to beat in the competition alongside Real Madrid."

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On a night when Erling Haaland could have netted his 100th goal in all competitions for Manchester City, the striker had just 14 touches, the fewest of any player to start the game on either side.

Meanwhile, Jack Grealish created four chances in the match. Since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, the winger has created more chances in the Champions League than any other player (55).

With the Champions League having got under way this week - you can watch highlights of every game on the BBC.

From 22:00 BST on the Wednesday of Champions League matchweeks, there will be game-by-game highlights available on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app - plus a highlights show on BBC One at 22:40.

Catch up now on BBC iPlayer

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

What did you make of your team's performance, Manchester City fans?

Let us know here, external

Come back to this page on Thursday to find a selection of your replies

Follow reaction and read the match report

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There are six matches as the Champions League continues on Wednesday with its new league group stage:

• Bologna v Shakhtar Donetsk - 17:45

• Sparta Prague v Red Bull Salzburg - 17:45

• Celtic v Slovan Bratislava - 20:00

• Club Bruges v Borussia Dortmund - 20:00

• Manchester City v Inter Milan - 20:00 (listen on BBC Radio 5 Live)

• Paris St-Germain v Girona - 20:00

All kick-off times BST

Follow all the action live

The latest episode of the You'll Never Beat Kyle Walker podcast has landed.

Walker joins former City midfielder Michael Brown and former Love Island star Chris Hughes to discuss the derby with Manchester United and the time Pep Guardiola met Neil Warnock.

Listen to the full episode here on BBC Sounds

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Joe Hart told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast why he is loving watching Erling Haaland's brilliant start to the season:

"The frustrating thing for a defender or a goalkeeper is you can probably feel like you can handle him during a game, because he's not necessarily getting hold of the ball and you can mark him out of the game for certain amounts of the game. Then he walks off with two or three [goals]. It's just exceptional.

"I just love watching him; the power, the pace and the energy. I love his attitude. He's great to watch, there's a smile on his face, there's hunger in his eyes and he's competitive but he doesn't overstep the boundary.

"I think we've just got to enjoy him at the moment."

More from Joe Hart from 02'22'00 on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast

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Former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart has been previewing City's opening Champions League fixture against Inter Milan on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.

"They [City] go into nearly every tournament at the moment expecting to win it, but with that, because everything's new and they've only won it once [the Champions League], they've still got that hunger there.

"It's not an arrogant expectancy that some teams fully deserve to have. Real Madrid last night were probably thinking: 'Matchday one - we'll take care of it and win, lose or draw, we'll be in the final.'

"Inter were very successful last year and strong defensively, but away from home they've not been too good this year. [They've conceded] a few goals that are very uncharacteristic for them and City have got Erling Haaland, who is absolutely boiling hot right now."

Listen to more from Hart on BBC Sounds from 02'22'00

Mike Minay
BBC Radio Manchester reporter

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It seems the Manchester City camp is as divided on the new Champions League format as we are as the media and public.

More teams, more challenges, more fixtures but something new at the same time. Manuel Akanji was quick to criticise the revamp but Kyle Walker relishes it, even though there was some reticence towards an increased number of games.

"It's football these days - they'll play extra games whenever they can," he told BBC Radio Manchester.

But then came the shift.

"Do I see it as an excuse? Definitely not. I want to be playing in every game possible," he said. "It's the sport that I love - it's the sport I choose. Pay me nothing and I'd continue to play.

"I feel young, I feel good and hopefully this club can go and achieve something special with all the fixtures and we can say we've knocked down another door."

Listen to Total Sport on BBC Radio Manchester every weeknight at 18:00 and listen to every Manchester City game - home and away - live on BBC Radio Manchester.

Manchester City are well placed to sign Bayern Munich's 21-year-old Germany midfielder Jamal Musiala. (Football Insider), external

Real Madrid are targeting Manchester City's Spain midfielder Rodri. (Independent), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Speaking on The Football News Show, Italian football journalist Nick Bandini looked to Inter's Champions League fixture against Manchester City and said Pep Guardiola's side are the "favourites" for the competition.

"The squad is exceptional, they're managed by one of, if not the best manager currently working and they have Erling Haaland up front," she said.

"It's hard not to see players like that and go 'well, that gives them a huge edge'."

Speaking about Inter before their opener in the tournament against City on Wednesday, Bandini added: "I think this game means a lot to them psychologically. It's proving this point, 'we can dominate domestically, we can stand toe-to-toe with the champions of England'."

You can watch the full episode of The Football News Show here

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

Manchester City midfielder Rodri has put the cat among the pigeons talking about players taking strike action over the workload they have been presented with.

Most fans know about the expanded Champions League now, quite a few are aware of the Club World Cup at the end of the season.

It has largely been overlooked that between the Champions League final and the Club World Cup there are two World Cup qualifying dates.

World players' union Fifpro is on the case and when I spoke to PFA chief executive Maheta Molango last month he was unrepentant about the potential for a legal threat.

The key point is who would the action be taken against? The FA, Premier League, EFL, Uefa and Fifa are all competition organisers.

Most people around the game accept the calendar needs sorting out. But it is not easy.

The Premier League did not reach a funding package with the EFL last year, so the EFL refused to abandon the established two-legged semi-finals for its competition.

No-one wants to give their competition or their status up.