Benito Carbone explains how Inter can beat Manchester City this weekend and talks Romelu Lukaku’s future
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In the third part of an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes: Fanzone, former Inter Milan attacker Benito Carbone discusses Saturday’s Champions League final and what the future may hold for on-loan striker Romelu Lukaku.
Click on the link for the first part in which he chatted about Brighton’s prospects of a title challenge under Roberto De Zerbi, and his memories of playing with Paul Ince at Inter Milan, while part two focuses on his spells with Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford.
Manchester City v Inter Milan prediction
It’s not easy to say who is going to win this final, because there are two ways of looking at things. Inter Milan are playing against the best team in the world at the moment. But this is just a 90-minute game. Anything can happen, here. For me, the key for Inter is patience – waiting for the right moment to attack and frustrate Manchester City.
How do you stop Erling Haaland? Quite simply, you don’t. He’s unstoppable. He’s a machine and is the the best player in the worldat the moment, so it’s not possible to stop him. He’s absolutely incredible, and has been all season, so Inter need to pray he has the worst game of his life. It’s not easy, but this is the Champions League.
Is there a weakness in this Manchester City side? I don’t think so. They are a machine. The key to beating them is through patience – you need to make things difficult for them all over the pitch. They are so used to controlling possession throughout the whole game, so it’s about being clever when you have the ball, or perhaps waiting for a mistake, which could always come.
Counter-attacking against this City side is Inter’s best chance of winning. Manchester City will always leave space, because they attack with seven or eight players at a time, so Inter need to wait for their moment to punish that. Romelu Lukaku and Edin Dzeko are key for this approach, because it’s important they find the space in behind City, so that when Inter counter, they can do so with purpose, and can hopefully punish City.
It’s difficult to pick a main man for Inter this weekend, a key player. Every player has to be at the best of their ability, and what’s good about this side is that it’s a very big squad. But they don’t play the same way as Manchester City who play well, keep the ball, find the space and attack it, not just individually, but as a team.
Romelu Lukaku could be the man for Inter Milan this weekend. For him, finding space is very important. Lautaro Martinez is another player who could have a very good game, but for me, I think Lukaku is very important. Inter Milan have to make things very difficult for City, because I saw them in both legs against Real Madrid, and they were absolutely incredible.
Lukaku could stay if Inter win Champions League
This summer is going to be very interesting for Inter Milan, both in terms of players coming and going, and so much depends on the outcome of this final on Saturday. If they win the Champions League, all of a sudden they’re in a great position to attract new players, top players from across Europe, and maybe they’ll be able to keep hold of Romelu Lukaku.
Peace ✌️#ForzaInter #UCL #UCLFinal pic.twitter.com/3JT6nxl4Jr
— Inter (@Inter_en) June 6, 2023
Winning the Champions League changes everything for Inter. That’s their best chance of signing Lukaku. When you win a competition like this, something which is so important for a club who have waited a long time now for success in this competition, it changes everything.
I am a supporter of Inter Milan. I’m an ex-player, so of course I want them to win the game. It’s very important for Inter Milan, but it’s also important for Italian football. It’s not going to be easy, but in my heart, I really think Inter can win this. I’ll say they win the game 2-1.
