 Match programme cover | |||||||
| Event | 2022–23 UEFA Champions League | ||||||
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| Date | 10 June 2023 (2023-06-10) | ||||||
| Venue | Atatürk Olympic Stadium,Istanbul | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Rodri(Manchester City)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Szymon Marciniak (Poland)[2] | ||||||
| Attendance | 71,412[3] | ||||||
| Weather | Clear night 21 °C (70 °F) 54%humidity[4] | ||||||
←2022 2024 → | |||||||
The2023 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the2022–23 UEFA Champions League, the 68th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised byUEFA. It was played at theAtatürk Olympic Stadium inIstanbul, Turkey, on 10 June 2023,[5] between English clubManchester City and Italian clubInter Milan, with Manchester City winning 1–0 via a second-half goal byRodri, who was namedman of the match by UEFA. For Manchester City, this was their first-ever European Cup, and first European trophy since1970. Having earlier won thePremier League andFA Cup titles, they achieved thecontinental treble, only the second time it had been achieved in English men's football history.[6][7] As winners, Manchester City earned the right to play againstSevilla, the winners of the2022–23 UEFA Europa League, in the2023 UEFA Super Cup, as well as qualifying for the2023 FIFA Club World Cup; they went on to win both competitions. They also qualified for the2025 FIFA Club World Cup through UEFA's champions pathway (winners of the 2021–2024 Champions Leagues).
The final was originally scheduled to be played atWembley Stadium inLondon, England. However, due to the postponement and relocation of the2020 final because of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the scheduled hosts for subsequent finals were shifted back a year, and theAllianz Arena in Munich was assigned the 2023 final.[8] When the2021 final, which had been scheduled to be played in Istanbul, also had to be relocated due to theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 final was given to Istanbul instead, and Munich received the2025 final.[9]
For Manchester City, this was their third European final and second European Cup/Champions League final appearance; they won the1970 European Cup Winners' Cup final but lost the2021 UEFA Champions League final 1–0 toChelsea, who were the most recent new European champions, having won in2012. ManagerPep Guardiola was looking to win his third UEFA Champions League title and the first since2011 with former employersBarcelona, when they beatManchester United 3–1 atWembley Stadium. He was also aiming to become the first manager to win two European trebles, having done so with Barcelona in2008–09. Additionally, Manchester City were attempting to secure thecontinental treble, having earlier won thePremier League andFA Cup. AfterWest Ham United's triumph in the2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final three days earlier, they became the English team with the longest European major trophy drought—53 years since their latest triumph.
On the other hand, this was Inter Milan's twelfth European final and sixth European Cup/Champions League final appearance, having won 3–1 in1964 againstReal Madrid, 1–0 againstBenfica athome in1965, and 2–0 againstBayern Munich in2010, resulting in Inter completing the continental treble; they also lost 2–1 toCeltic in1967 and 2–0 toAjax in1972, enabling those clubs to win the continental treble themselves. The club had also contested five UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League finals, winning in1991,1994, and1998 as well as losing in1997 and2020. They also contested the2010 UEFA Super Cup, losing 2–0 toAtlético Madrid. Inter was also the most recent Italian club to win the Champions League; since 2010 only one other Italian club—Juventus—had reached the Champions League final, losing in2015 and2017. Having won the2023 Coppa Italia final againstFiorentina,[10] Inter were attempting to win acup double. ManagerSimone Inzaghi was aiming for his first European title as manager and the second in his football career, having won against Manchester United in the1999 UEFA Super Cup as aLazio player. Their midfielderHenrikh Mkhitaryan was aiming to become the 11th player to havewon all three major European trophies and the first to have achieved that with three different clubs, having won the2016–17 UEFA Europa League with Manchester United and the2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League withRoma.
This was the first meeting inUEFA competitions between City and Inter. City had won six matches againstItalian clubs, while Inter had won 16 matches againstEnglish clubs.[11]
In the following table, finals until 1992 were in the European Cup era and since 1993 were in the UEFA Champions League era.
| Team | Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners) |
|---|---|
 Manchester City | 1 (2021) |
 Inter Milan | 5 (1964,1965,1967,1972,2010) |
This was the second UEFA Champions League final played at theAtatürk Olympic Stadium; the first was held in2005, whenLiverpool secured their fifth title after defeatingMilan onpenalties.[12]
An open bidding process was launched on 22 February 2019 by UEFA to select the 2022 and 2023 UEFA Champions League final venues.[13] National associations had until 22 March 2019 to express interest, and bid dossiers had to be submitted by 1 July 2019.[14]
While the bidding associations were not confirmed by UEFA, theGerman Football Association was reported to have bid with theAllianz Arena in Munich, should they not be awarded the 2021 final.[15] The Allianz Arena was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting inLjubljana, Slovenia, on 24 September 2019,[16] where the hosts for the 2021 and 2022 finals were also appointed.[17]
On 17 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee announced that due to the postponement and relocation of the2020 final due to theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Munich would instead host the 2023 edition.[8] Istanbul had initially been appointed for the 2021 final, but after it was relocated due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, they were awarded the 2023 final; Munich would host the2025 final instead.[9]
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).
| Manchester City | Round | Inter Milan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Sevilla | 4–0 (A) | Matchday 1 |  Bayern Munich | 0–2 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Borussia Dortmund | 2–1 (H) | Matchday 2 |  Viktoria Plzeň | 2–0 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Copenhagen | 5–0 (H) | Matchday 3 | Barcelona | 1–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copenhagen | 0–0 (A) | Matchday 4 | Barcelona | 3–3 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Borussia Dortmund | 0–0 (A) | Matchday 5 | Viktoria Plzeň | 4–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sevilla | 3–1 (H) | Matchday 6 | Bayern Munich | 0–2 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Group G winners
Source:UEFA | Final standings | Group C runners-up
Source:UEFA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Knockout phase | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RB Leipzig | 8–1 | 1–1 (A) | 7–0 (H) | Round of 16 |  Porto | 1–0 | 1–0 (H) | 0–0 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bayern Munich | 4–1 | 3–0 (H) | 1–1 (A) | Quarter-finals | Benfica | 5–3 | 2–0 (A) | 3–3 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Real Madrid | 5–1 | 1–1 (A) | 4–0 (H) | Semi-finals | Milan | 3–0 | 2–0 (A) | 1–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Manchester City qualified for the Champions League group stage by winning the2021–22 Premier League. In the group stage, they were drawn into Group G, alongsideBundesliga runners-upBorussia Dortmund,La Liga fourth-place teamSevilla andDanish Superliga championsCopenhagen.[18]
In City's opener of the group stage, they faced Sevilla at theRamón Sánchez Pizjuán and won 4–0, with goals fromPhil Foden,Rúben Dias and a brace fromErling Haaland.[19] On matchday 2, City won 2–1 at theCity of Manchester Stadium against Borussia Dortmund, with goals fromJohn Stones and Erling Haaland.[20] On matchday 3, City defeated Copenhagen at home 5–0, with goals fromRiyad Mahrez,Julián Álvarez, a brace from Erling Haaland and an own goal fromDavit Khocholava.[21] On matchday 4, City drew in Copenhagen 0–0.[22] On matchday 5, City drew against Borussia Dortmund at theWestfalenstadion 0–0.[23] On matchday 6, at the City of Manchester Stadium, the hosts defeated Sevilla 3–1, with goals fromRico Lewis, Julian Álvarez and Riyad Mahrez.[24]
In the round of 16, City were drawn against German clubRB Leipzig. In the first leg held at theRed Bull Arena, City drew 1–1, with goals from Riyad Mahrez andJoško Gvardiol.[25] In the reverse leg, City defeated Leipzig 7–0, with five goals from Erling Haaland, tying a Champions League single game goals record, and one goal each fromİlkay Gündoğan andKevin De Bruyne, to win 8–1 on aggregate and advance to the quarter-finals.[26]
In the quarter-finals, City were drawn against German championsBayern Munich. In the first leg, at the City of Manchester Stadium, the hosts won 3–0, with goals fromRodri,Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland.[27] In the second leg, at theAllianz Arena, City drew 1–1, with goals from Erling Haaland andJoshua Kimmich, winning 4–1 on aggregate and qualifying for the semi-finals.[28]
In the semi-finals, City were drawn against Spanish champions andreigning UEFA Champions League winnersReal Madrid, making it a rematch of the last season's tie at the same stage, which Madrid won 6–5 on aggregate after extra time. In the first leg, at theSantiago Bernabéu, City and Real drew, with a first-half goal byVinícius Júnior matched by a Kevin De Bruyne equaliser.[29] In the second leg, at the City of Manchester Stadium, the hosts won 4–0, with a brace from Bernardo Silva and goals byManuel Akanji and Julián Álvarez. City won 5–1 on aggregate to qualify for their second Champions League final in three years.[30]
Inter Milan qualified for the Champions League group stage by finishing as runners-up in the2021–22 Serie A. In the group stage, they were drawn into Group C alongsideBundesliga championsBayern Munich,La Liga runners-upBarcelona andCzech First League championsViktoria Plzeň.[18]
In the opening match of the group stage, Inter faced Bayern Munich at theSan Siro and lost 0–2, with goals for Bayern fromLeroy Sané and an own goal byDanilo D'Ambrosio.[31] On matchday 2, Inter won 2–0 against Viktoria Plzeň at theDoosan Arena, with goals fromEdin Džeko andDenzel Dumfries.[32] On matchday 3, Inter returned to the San Siro and won 1–0 against Barcelona, with the only goal of the match coming fromHakan Çalhanoğlu.[33] On matchday 4, Inter drew 3–3 with Barcelona at theCamp Nou, withNicolò Barella,Lautaro Martínez andRobin Gosens scoring for Inter, andRobert Lewandowski (twice) andOusmane Dembélé scoring for the hosts.[34] On matchday 5, Inter won 4–0 against Viktoria Plzeň at the San Siro, with goals fromHenrikh Mkhitaryan, Džeko andRomelu Lukaku, sealing qualification to the knockout phase.[35] On matchday 6, Inter lost 2–0 to Bayern Munich at theAllianz Arena, with goals fromBenjamin Pavard andEric Maxim Choupo-Moting.[36]
In the round of 16, Inter were drawn against Portuguese clubPorto. In the first leg held at the San Siro, Inter won 1–0, with a goal from Lukaku.[37] In the reverse leg at theEstádio do Dragão, Inter drew 0–0 to seal a 1–0 aggregate victory and qualify for the quarter-finals.[38]
In the quarter-finals, Inter were drawn against another Portuguese club,Benfica. In the first leg at theEstádio da Luz, Inter won 2–0, with goals from Barella and apenalty kick from Lukaku.[39] In the second leg at the San Siro, Inter drew 3–3, with goals from Barella, Martínez andJoaquín Correa for Inter, andFredrik Aursnes,António Silva andPetar Musa for the visitors, winning 5–3 on aggregate and sealing semi-finals qualification.[40]
In the semi-finals, Inter were drawn againstlocal rivalsMilan, their first meeting inEuropean competition since2005, with both legs being held at the San Siro. In the 'away' leg, Inter won 2–0, with goals from Džeko and Mkhitaryan.[41] In the home leg, Inter won 1–0, with the only goal of the match coming from Martínez, qualifying Inter for the final with a 3–0 aggregate victory. It was the club's sixth European Cup final appearance and their first since2010, whenJosé Mourinho was manager.[42]
The visual identity of the 2023 UEFA Champions League final was unveiled at the group stage draw in Istanbul on 25 August 2022.[43]
On 22 May 2023, Polish refereeSzymon Marciniak was appointed to take charge of the final by UEFA, along with fellow Poles: Paweł Sokolnicki and Tomasz Listkiewicz asassistant referees and Tomasz Kwiatkowski as thevideo assistant referee.[44][2] The four officials had all previously officiated together in theWorld Cup final six months prior.[45][46] They were joined by fellow countryman Bartosz Frankowski as assistant VAR, with RomanianIstván Kovács appointed as the fourth official.[2] Some controversy regarding the appointment was raised in early June due to multiple media reports that Marciniak had been present at an event organised bySławomir Mentzen, aright-wing Polish politician and leader of thelibertarianNew Hope party.[47][48] UEFA investigated the incident and subsequently decided to maintain the original refereeing line-up on 2 June, having acknowledged Marciniak's "profound apologies and clarification".[49]
The ambassador for the final was former Turkish internationalHamit Altıntop, who was originally the ambassador for 2020 and 2021 finals before those matches were relocated toLisbon andPorto, respectively.[50]
The opening ceremony before the match, officially known as the2023 UEFA Champions League Final Kick Off Show by Pepsi for sponsorship reasons, featured Swedish DJAlesso, Nigerian singerBurna Boy and Brazilian singerAnitta.[51][52] Hungarian pianistÁdám György performed a special rendition of theUEFA Champions League Anthem as the teams walked out for the match.[53]
With a stadium capacity of 72,000 for the final, a total amount of 47,200 tickets were available to fans and the general public, with the two finalist teams receiving 20,000 tickets each, and with the other tickets sold to fans worldwide viaUEFA.com from 21 to 28 April 2023 in four price categories: €690, €490, €180 and €70. Accessibility tickets for disabled spectators cost €70. The remaining tickets were allocated to the local organising committee, national associations, commercial partners and broadcasters, and to serve the corporate hospitality programme.[54]
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Manchester City began the final withKyle Walker on the bench and replaced byNathan Aké in the starting line-up in an unexpected change; Inter Milan startedMarcelo Brozović in place ofHenrikh Mkhitaryan who was returning from an injury.[55] The two sides had scoring chances early in the first half, but Inter'sAndré Onana made two saves to prevent City from taking the lead.[56] A misplayed pass fromEderson in the 26th minute was stolen byNicolò Barella, but his shot over the goalkeeper missed.[57][58]Kevin De Bruyne left the match in the 36th minute with a hamstring injury and was replaced byPhil Foden.[59] The first half ended scoreless, with Inter playing defensively to prevent City from gaining momentum.[56][58]
Romelu Lukaku was brought on to replace former City strikerEdin Džeko early in the second half and immediately produced a chance from a header. In the 59th minute, Ederson failed to collect a backpass fromManuel Akanji which was found by Inter'sLautaro Martínez; his shot from near the touchline was saved by Ederson.[58]Rodri scored the opening goal for City in the 68th minute with a side-footed finish to the right of the net after a pulled-back pass fromBernardo Silva on the right to the edge of the penalty area.[56][57] Inter had a chance to equalise three minutes later through a header by defenderFederico Dimarco that hit the crossbar. Dimarco tried to capitalise on the rebound as well, but his shot was accidentally blocked by his teammateLukaku.[56] The Belgian striker had his own chance to score from a close-range header in the 89th minute, which Ederson blocked with his legs.[58] The Brazilian goalkeeper made an additional save in the sixth minute of stoppage time offRobin Gosens's header to preserve a 1–0 victory for City.[57]
The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.
          Manchester City[4] |      Inter Milan[4] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[2] | Match rules[60]
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With their victory, Manchester City secured their first UEFA Champions League title, the first new winners of the competition since fellow English club Chelsea in 2012. City became the sixth English club, and 23rd overall team, to win the European Cup, which marked the 15th time an English club were champions of the competition.[62] Manchester City also completed the tenthcontinental treble in European football history, doing so as the eighth overall team and second English club aftercity rivalsManchester United in1998–99.[63] It was the 15th occasion a clubwon the European Cup unbeaten, with City the 11th club to accomplish the feat.[64]
Pep Guardiola won his third Champions League final as a manager after his two titles withBarcelona in2009 and2011, becoming thesecond-most successful coach in the competition, behindCarlo Ancelotti's four victories.[65] He also became the first manager to win two European trebles, having also done so with Barcelona in2008–09.[66] It was Guardiola's twelfth major trophy with Manchester City; after the match, he stated that "it was written in the stars that we'd win this season—and we did."[63] City midfielderRodri, who scored the lone goal of the game, was selected as theman of the match by UEFA's technical observers.[1] Backup goalkeeperScott Carson was the only City player to have previously won the competition, doing so as a reserve forLiverpool in2005 at the same stadium. He thus equalled the record for the longest gap between a first and last European Cup title, shared with Milan'sPaolo Maldini andAlessandro Costacurta.[67] ForwardJulián Alvarez, who won the2022 FIFA World Cup withArgentina six months prior, became the first player to win the treble andWorld Cup in the same season. This also made him the tenth player to accomplish the European Cup and World Cup double.[68]
As winners, Manchester City qualified for the2023 UEFA Super Cup, where they defeated Spanish clubSevilla, winners of the2022–23 UEFA Europa League,on penalties following a 1–1 draw after regulation time.[69][70] City also qualified for two editions of theFIFA Club World Cup: the2023 tournament held in December with seven teams, and the expanded 32-team tournament in2025.[71] Following theNerazzurri defeat, Italian teams became the first in European football history to finish runners-up in each men'sUEFA competition in a single season, includingRoma andFiorentina's losses in theEuropa League final and in theEuropa Conference League final, respectively.[72]
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