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• Inter boss Simone Inzaghi calls opponents Man City ‘strongest team in the world’

  Simone Inzaghi will send Inter Milan into Champions League battle with “the strongest team in the world” on Saturday evening.

  Inter will go head-to-head with English double winners Manchester City in Istanbul, with Pep Guardiola’s men hot favourites to complete the same treble won by arch-rivals Manchester United in 1999.

  However, Inzaghi has told his players not to fear the challenge ahead of them as they attempt to repeat the feat of their predecessors in 2010.

  The 47-year-old head coach told a press conference: “I know we’ll meet the strongest team in the world at the moment. We face the best.

  “We’re talking about a football match and with all due respect, I’m not afraid of anything.

  “Guardiola is the best coach in the world and he has marked an era. We have respect, but we are proud to play in this final that we wanted with all our strength.

  “It will be the last of 57 matches in which even the much-talked-about defeats have allowed us to get to where we will be on Saturday.”

  Asked if the game would be the biggest of his illustrious career, Inzaghi added: “Yes it is, for me and for my players.

  “[Andre] Onana and [Edin] Dzeko have played in the semi-finals, but nobody has ever made it to the final. It pays us back for all the efforts made throughout the year.”

  Much of the focus in the build-up to the game has centred on the threat posed to Inter’s hopes by 52-goal City striker Erling Haaland, even though the Norway international has scored only once in his last seven appearances.

  Inzaghi, who revealed he had unexpectedly bumped into Guardiola at a New York hotel during his honeymoon in 2019, said: “Haaland said City bought him to win the Champions League, but City isn’t just Haaland; they have numerous players who can put us in trouble.

  “[Real Madrid’s Antonio] Rudiger managed to stop him very well in the semi-final and we’ll try to take our cue from that.”

  That was a theme taken up by defender Alessandro Bastoni, who warned his team-mates not to ignore the danger posed by Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne in particular.

  Bastoni said: “City bought Haaland to win the Champions League, but they also have Bernardo [Silva] and [Kevin] De Bruyne who can put us in trouble.

  “I watched a video of how Rudiger stopped Haaland and we will try to do the same. But it’s not Inter against Haaland, it’s Inter against City.”

  Inzaghi remained coy over his team selection, insisting he is yet to make a decision over whether to start Dzeko or Romelu Lukaku in attack, adding: “A coach can have ideas, but maybe he changes his mind at the last second.”

• VAR wrong to intervene with Grealish handball, says Halsey

  VAR was wrong to intervene in the incident which caused Jack Grealish to be penalised for handball in the FA Cup final.

  That is the view of former Premier League referee Mark Halsey, who feels the Manchester City and England star had been hard done by after conceding a penalty in the first half.

  There was relief for Grealish and City at Wembley on Saturday, as they went on to win the final 2-1 despite Bruno Fernandes' equaliser from the penalty spot.

  That 33rd-minute spot-kick came after a VAR intervention. Aaron Wan-Bissaka headed the ball into Grealish's arm from close range as the pair battled to reach a cross-field pass from Fernandes.

  The match referee Paul Tierney initially waved away strong United appeals, but VAR called him to the monitor at the next break in play.

  Halsey told Stats Perform: "The problem we have at present; we have got too many inconsistencies about when to get involved or when not to get involved. 

  "VAR is here to stay and I think it's a great tool because we have seen many goals given where the system has then put the flag up and we have seen goals ruled out when the flag hasn't gone up and the player has been just offside, so that is factual. 

  "But I'm seeing many subjective decisions being recommended for review – some being recommended, some not being recommended. 

  "Then we have some handballs given, some handballs not given, and some holding offences in the penalty area recommend for review, some not. 

  "Since Howard Webb has come in I think the consistency has improved, but there is still some inconsistency there, so there's a lot of work still to be done with VAR. 

  "It's simple – VAR should only get involved if it's a clear and obvious error, an absolute howler. That is when VAR has to get involved."

  Asked specifically about the Grealish decision, Halsey added: "If you look at the game, that incident, that passage of play, was that a deliberate act? No. 

  "A player that deliberately moves his hand or arm towards the ball or if they are making themselves unnaturally bigger, then they run the risk of a handball being given against him. 

  "But were his arms in an unnatural or natural position for that passage of play? I've played the game at very, very high levels as a semi-professional – for me his arms for that passage of play were in a natural position. 

  "So I think we have a problem of understanding what is natural and what is unnatural. I don't think anybody knows anymore, do they?

  "Paul Tierney is there [near the incident], he has seen it and he's not given it. On that situation, it is subjective. 

  "So is that clear enough and obvious error by Paul Tierney for VAR to get involved? For me, no, because Paul Tierney is in a great position. He has possibly seen it and he thinks, 'Well hang on I don't think that's deliberate, I think arms are in a natural position'. 

  "We don't know that because we don't hear the conversation, I'm just assuming. So VAR then gets involved and I question should David Coote have got involved. 

  "Was it correct in law? Perhaps if he's [Coote] is refereeing his opinion is [Grealish] has made himself bigger, and his arms are in the air, and it is an unnatural position. 

  "But Paul Tierney the on field referee doesn't give that. So was that clear enough and obvious enough for VAR to get involved? For me, no. 

  "The law is an ass – we need players involved as well because it's no criticism of the referee. It's the law that needs looking at. It is the same with offside, no one knows what is or what isn't and it's the same with handball.

  "There is so much subjectivity involved in handball – we have seen some awful decisions regarding handball. So it's all over the place and difficult for referees because the way the law is worded and obviously they are unsure what is natural and what is unnatural with your arms."

  For Halsey, the solution to the dilemma over the handball law is clear.

  He said: "Back to how it used to be, that it has to be a deliberate act. Deliberate with your arm moving towards the ball.

  "None of this unnatural or natural? Was his arm up in the air? Did you make yourself bigger? It's simple – ask was that a deliberate act of handling the ball?"

  Victory for Premier League winners City gave them a seventh FA Cup triumph, with Saturday's Champions League final against Inter giving Pep Guardiola's men a chance to win the treble, a feat which would match rivals United's accomplishment in 1999.

• Finals are 50-50 – Kevin De Bruyne not saying City are favourites to beat Inter

  Kevin De Bruyne does not believe Manchester City are favourites to beat Inter Milan in the Champions League final and secure the win they need to complete the treble.

  City are well fancied to beat the Serie A side on Saturday in Istanbul and become the first English club to win all three major trophies in a single season since Manchester United in 1999.

  They moved a step closer on Saturday by adding the FA Cup to the Premier League title already won, with Ilkay Gundogan’s goals helping Pep Guardiola’s side to a 2-1 victory against United at Wembley.

  Until now Guardiola and his players have largely sidestepped any talk of matching their city rivals’ feat of 24 years ago.

  But after the cup final victory, De Bruyne acknowledged how close he and his team-mates were to a remarkable achievement, yet stopped short of saying they were favourites to beat Inter.

  “There was belief anyway but there was no point talking about it before,” he said. “We know now. I want to win the Champions League and I want to win the treble but we were getting ready to win this game (against United).

  “We deserved to win. I am very happy and very proud. We should enjoy next week and hopefully we can perform the best we can.

  “Inter are a very good team. Finals are 50-50. We were favourites today. It is always difficult. You have to manage these moments. There will be moments when it is tough but in the big moments we try to do our job.

  “Inter have great players and we have respect for them. They haven’t got to the final by beating easy teams.”

  De Bruyne will be looking to exorcise personal demons from the last time he played in a Champions League final, fracturing an eye socket and breaking his nose as City went down 1-0 against Chelsea in an all-Premier League final in Porto.

  “That is football,” he said. “I have never broken anything in my life and I come out of the Champions League final with a broken nose, a broken eye socket and concussion.

  “It happens. There is nothing more I can do. I wished it was better but it wasn’t.”

  Guardiola’s team were knocked out in the last four by Real Madrid last season despite holding a two-goal aggregate lead going into the final moments of the second leg.

  The Champions League is the only major honour that still eludes the club, with Guardiola not having lifted the trophy since his second triumph with Barcelona in 2011.

  Asked if he believed City were finally ready to take the next step in Europe, De Bruyne said: “I can answer that question next week.

  “I don’t see it that way. We have performed really well. We have been in so many quarter and semi-finals and two finals. We have been there most of the time.

  “Depends who you ask (whether City need to win in Europe to earn recognition). Most of the guys have been incredible anyway. Will it help, yes.

  “But one 90 minutes doesn’t define a career. I am on around 700 games. One 90 minutes out of 700 doesn’t define my career. But obviously it helps.”