City's riveting draw shows new league format has legs.

If the revamped Champions League was supposed to inject the competition with more drama, perhaps Uefa could still savour the scoreline in a stalemate.

- RICHARD JOLLY

Manchester City 0

Inter Milan 0

Manchester City scored 18 goals in their pool matches last season but it was more an indictment of the group stages than an advertisement for it as they cruised through. With a new format, Inter Milan instead illustrated why they had run City so close in the 2023 final. As European heavyweights collided again, English and Italian champions proved evenly matched.

That is a credit to Simone Inzaghi: Inter were expertly organised and, even in a draw, theirs was a triumph of intelligent tactics. They did not merely extend Erling Haaland’s wait to bring up his century of City goals; they outshot Pep Guardiola’s team in the first half and, until a late flurry from the hosts, had more attempts on target. Inzaghi was more animated than Guardiola in the technical areas, too. It symbolised the verve in his side. Quite what it means remains to be seen: these two sides should be assured of a top-24 finish and very probably the top-eight position that will spare them the play-off round.