Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez is determined to seize the moment as he looks to follow up his World Cup triumph with Champions League success.
The Italian side take on favourites Manchester City for Europe’s top prize in Istanbul on Saturday and Martinez is hoping to round off a memorable campaign that also saw him help Argentina to international success in December.
Martinez said at a press conference at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium: “These are the two major finals a footballer can play.
“It has certainly been a very positive season for me. I am pleased with how it has gone and how I have done. Now we hope to finish off in the best possible way.
“If you want to achieve your goal this is the very last step and we must be ready to take it. It will be a very important game for everyone at Inter and the club.”
Saturday’s match will see Martinez come up against his Argentina team-mate Julian Alvarez, with whom he shared glory in Qatar.
Martinez said: “I have not been in contact with Julian. I got married recently and invited him but he was unable to attend.”
Inter, who finished third in Serie A, are rated as the underdogs against a City side bidding to complete a treble.
Coach Simeone Inzaghi said: “After reaching the final we didn’t have time to think about it as we still had games to play.
“Only now are we realising what we have achieved but we are not relaxed. We are concentrating very much and we will fight for every inch of the pitch against an excellent team.
“We must be fully focused and make no mistakes.”
Stopping the prolific Erling Haaland, who has scored 52 goals for City this season, will be key to Inter’s hopes.
Inzaghi said: “We know who we have to play. We know Manchester City are probably the best in the world. They have proved that, they have been defeated very few times.
“We know what a player Haaland is. Clearly we will have a special eye on him.
“I have prepared something but it will be all of Inter that have to defend, trying to limit not only Haaland but all of City.”
Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu, the Turkey international, hopes to have the locals in the crowd on his side even though City captain Ilkay Gundogan also has a proud Turkish heritage.
Calhanoglu said: “I think it will be a very special game for me. It is special for a Turk to play in Istanbul.
“I want to enjoy this moment and I don’t know if I will play another final. We will give it our very best shot.
“I know Turks will support me. Gundogan is on the other team but he plays for Germany, so for our people it is perhaps more important I win. That is my dream.”
Former Manchester United forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan has returned to training for Inter after a thigh injury but remains a doubt.
Inzaghi said: “We have a positive feeling but he is not 100 per cent. I will have to decide whether to field him from the beginning or send him on during the match.”
Taylor proud of 'gritty' Man City display in Hammarby victory
Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his Manchester City players handled the atmosphere against Hammarby to secure their passage into the Champions League quarter-finals.
Khadija Shaw opened the scoring in the 31st minute before Ellen Wangerheim restored parity shortly after the interval with a finish from close range.
But Shaw continued her fine start to the campaign, scoring the winner to become City's all-time top scorer in the competition, surpassing Georgia Stanway and Janine Beckie (both six).
The result saw City make it to the last eight of the competition for the first time since 2021, though the encounter was far from comfortable at the Tele2 Arena on Thursday.
Hammarby ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.15 compared to the visitors' 1.07, despite both sides having 14 shots throughout the match.
However, City maintained their unbeaten record against Swedish sides in the competitor (W6), and Taylor was proud of his side's "gritty" display in Stockholm.
“I’m really pleased. It was about qualification for us tonight," Taylor said.
"There were a couple of ways we could do it. Obviously, we knew a point was enough, but I don’t think the players were thinking that way.
“It was a really gritty performance on a really difficult on this pitch. It probably doesn’t look like that for the viewers at home watching it.
"But it was a really lively surface and we worked so hard.
“I felt there were some areas we could control the play better. I have to give credit to Hammarby, they were really aggressive.
"The referee was on our side a little bit in the first half and maybe not in the second.
“I’m really pleased and proud of the players, they really dug in tonight. You come away from a hostile environment with a win.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
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