The final soccer game of the European season is upon us as Manchester City look to make history when they face off against Inter in the 2023 UEFA Champions League final.
City have already secured the domestic double after winning the English Premier League for the fifth time in six seasons and winning the FA Cup this past weekend. Inter on the other hand have also won two trophies this season, winning the Supercoppa Italia and Coppa Italia, while finishing 3rd in Serie A.
We'll take a look at the game between the two sides and provide you with our best free soccer betting picks to try and earn you some extra cash for the summer.
Learn more about how to bet on Champions League soccer here.
Manchester City vs Inter information
- Saturday, June 10th, 2023
- Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey
- 15:00 ET kick-off
- 90 minutes
- If tied after 90 minutes, teams play extra 30 mins
- Still tied after extra time, teams play penalty shootout
Manchester City route to the final
Manchester City enter this second final in three years having not lost a single game in the tournament to date so far this season.
Pep Guardiola's side entered the group stages alongside Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla, and Copenhagen, earning four wins and two draws from the combined six games against them.
The opening game saw them win a 4-0 win away at Sevilla with Erling Haaland scoring twice, with Phil Foden and Ruben Dias adding to those strikes. Game 2 saw them beat Dortmund 2-1 with late goals from John Stones and Haaland, while game 3 all but secured qualification with a 5-0 win as Haaland scored twice more alongside Riyad Mahrez, Julian Alvarez, and an own goal.
Game 4 and 5 were both 0-0 draws against Copenhagen and Dortmund but sealed qualification before they finished up with a 3-1 win over Sevilla as Rico Lewis scored his first senior goal.
The first knockout round saw City paired with RB Leipzig and after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, they thrashed them at the Etihad Stadium, winning 7-0 with Haaland scoring five times. They followed that up with a dominant 3-0 win over Bayern Munich in the quarter-final before a 1-1 draw in Germany helped them progress through.
In the semi-final, they came up against reigning champions Real Madrid and after earning a 1-1 draw in the Bernabeu, they turned in one of the performances of the season at home in the second leg to win 4-0 thanks to goals from Bernardo Silva (2), Manuel Akanji and Alvarez.
Inter route to the final
Inter were in the group stages alongside giants Bayern Munich and Barcelona and weren't given a chance by many to get through to the knockout rounds.
They did that though with three wins and one draw from their six group games, with their only two defeats coming against the unbeaten German giants. They lost the opening game 2-0 to Bayern but bounced back in game 2 with an away win over Viktoria Plzn thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko and Denzel Dumfries.
Game 3 and 4 saw them go back-to-back with Barcelona and come out on top, winning the first game 1-0 at the San Siro thanks to Hakan Calhanoglu, before a 3-3 draw at the Camp Nou with goals from Nicolo Barella, Lautaro Martinez, and Robin Gosens.
A 4-0 win over Plzn in game 5 secured their qualification with a game to spare as Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Romelu Lukaku, and Dzeko (2), before a final day defeat to Bayern.
The last 16 knockout round saw them paired with Portuguese champions FC Porto and a 1-0 win in the first leg thanks to a late Lukaku goal was enough to see them progress, after a 0-0 draw in the second leg.
The quarter-finals pitted them against another Portuguese side in Benfica, and they claimed a 2-0 win away from home in the first leg before a second leg 3-3 draw brought plenty of excitement and set up a Milan derby in the semi-final against fierce rivals AC Milan.
They blew them away in the first leg with a 2-0 win after two early goals, before sealing their route to Istanbul with another win in the home leg to earn a 3-0 aggregate win.
Saturday. #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/AoXpMhgRkC
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) June 5, 2023
Soccer picks: Erling Haaland to score
A world-class season from a world-class striker, Haaland has broken the majority of goal scoring records in England this season with 53 goals in all competitions this season.
He managed 36 in the Premier League, breaking the previous record for goals in a season, and he is currently the top scorer in the Champions League with 12 goals in 10 appearances - and he won't be caught in the final.
Backing him to score goals seems like the most obvious bet ever because he's just simply a machine in front of the goal, and the team is set up to help get the most out of him.
It would be more of a surprise if he didn't score at least once during the 90 minutes, so there is plenty of value in this bet.
Check out our review for BetUS sports betting here.
Soccer picks: Manchester City to win in 90mins
Man City are on the brink of history, as they could win the first treble and first Champions League trophy in their history.
They have the best manager in the world, the best striker in the world, the best midfielder in the world in Kevin De Bruyne and one of the best defenses on the continent this season.
Inter are a serious defensive unit and will approach this game to stop City rather than go all out to win it, and that plays into City's hands as it means they will have the ball for the majority of the time and plenty of space to work in.
They're too good to back against at this point and have too many weapons to shut dow. City will win this game and make it look comfortable.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
