Man City vs Inter Milan: the history behind today’s friendly

City and Inter Milan have met four times, and the fixture has produced everything from a red card and an own goal to a Champions League final. Here’s the history ahead of today’s meeting in Hong Kong.

Baltimore, 2010: Inter announce themselves

The clubs’ first-ever meeting came in a pre-season friendly at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, contested for the Trofeo Pirelli. It turned ugly early: Patrick Vieira was sent off in the 21st minute for a hard foul on Marco Materazzi, and City never recovered.

Victor Obinna scored either side of a Joleon Lescott own goal, with Cristiano Biraghi adding a third late on, as Inter — that year’s treble winners under José Mourinho — ran out 3-0 winners in front of 36,569 fans. Mario Balotelli, then an Inter player being courted by City, didn’t even make the squad.

Dublin, 2011: City settle the score

A year later, the sides met again in the Dublin Super Cup, this time with Balotelli having completed his move to Manchester. City won 3-0, with goals from Balotelli, Edin Džeko and Adam Johnson delivering a rout of their own and squaring the head-to-head record.

Istanbul, 2023: the Champions League final

Their most significant meeting came 12 years later, and for considerably higher stakes. City and Inter met in the 2023 Champions League final at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, with Pep Guardiola’s side chasing a historic treble.

Inter, the surprise package of that year’s competition, made City work for it — Federico Dimarco hit the crossbar, and Romelu Lukaku was denied late on by an Ederson save — but Rodri’s 68th-minute strike proved enough.

The 1-0 win delivered City’s first European Cup and completed the treble, with Rodri named man of the match.

Manchester, 2024: honours shared

The pair were drawn together again the following season, this time in the Champions League league phase. Inter held out for a goalless draw at the Etihad, denying Erling Haaland what would have been a record-fastest 100 European goals for a single club. It was some measure of revenge for the Istanbul defeat, even if City remained unbeaten in the fixture on home soil.

Head-to-head, that leaves the sides level at two wins apiece, with the most consequential meeting still going City’s way. Today’s friendly won’t settle anything, but it continues one of City’s more eventful rivalries with Italian opposition.