Guardiola admitted he did not expect Haaland to be this prolific as the Norwegian, who has nine goals in his four Premier League matches this season, could get his 100th City goal in Wednesday’s Champions League tie against Internazionale.

Haaland has only played 103 games for City, putting him on pace to reach his hundred even quicker than Cristiano Ronaldo did when his first 100 goals for Real Madrid came in 105 appearances.

Inzaghi added that his team aren’t looking for ‘redemption’ after losing to Man City in the final.

He said: “We are aware this isn’t redemption time. I have no regrets after the final in Istanbul – the lads gave all they had. Of course we were heartbroken, but it was single episodes that determined the result, as often happens in football.”

Simone Inzaghi, the Inter manager says his team ‘cannot wait’ to face Manchester City this evening and that the match will not be a repeat of the 2023 final.

Inzaghi said: “We cannot wait. This won’t be a rematch of that [2023] final, that was another story. It will be our first game in the league phase and we want to do our best.

“We know they are tough opponents – one of the best in the world. We need to play well in both phases, trying to help each other out. They have very skillful players.”

Instead of 32 competing sides being divided into eight groups of four, all 36 teams in this year’s Champions League will form a single league. Each entrant will play four games at home and four games away for a total of eight fixtures, two more than under the previous format. These eight encounters will be with eight different opponents.

The top eight sides in the league after the competition’s first phase will progress directly to the last-16. Teams placed ninth to 24th will have to negotiate a play-off round, while teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated from all European competition.

The 36 clubs will be seeded into four different pots based on their individual club coefficient at the start of the season. Each team will face two sides from each pot, one at home and one away. Pot 1 will include defending champions Real Madrid and the other strongest club sides by Uefa coefficient.

City, the 2023 winners, begin their latest European campaign as Inter Milan visit the Etihad Stadium.

The Switzerland international said: “It’s getting more complicated with the league. You play different teams, and then Inter don’t have the same opponents as us. It’s just got bigger, more games.

“Then we have the Club World Cup at the end of the season. It’s just game after game and I don’t know how it will work out over the next couple of years.

“It’s so tough, you don’t just think about this season – but also next season. When do we do holidays? There are no breaks in winter.

“If we are lucky we get two weeks and then we need to be back and into next season. There’s no end to it. I don’t know how it works out. Maybe I’ll retire at 30!”

When Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin attends the first games of the new Champions League this week, it will be with a considerable security detail. This has led to grumbles from federation staff, especially since very few people outside football know what he even looks like. There have probably only been two moments when the Slovenian official was properly in the public eye.

One was when the Super League was launched in April 2021 and Ceferin admirably defended the spirit of European football in a defiant media appearance, all while lambasting executives as “snakes” and “liars”. Less publicised from that day was the fact Uefa were also in the process of approving the changes to the Champions League we are going to see enacted this week.

17:45 Feyenoord v Bayer 04 Leverkusen – TNT Sports 2

17:45 FK Crvena Zvezda v SL Benfica – TNT Sports 4

20:00 Atalanta BC v Arsenal FC – TNT Sports 1

20:00 AS Monaco v FC Barcelona – TNT Sports 2

20:00 Atlético de Madrid v RB Leipzig – TNT Sports 4

20:00 Stade Brestois 29 v SK Sturm Graz – TNT Sports 5

17:45 AC Sparta Praha v FC Salzburg – TNT Sports 6

17:45 Bologna FC 1909 v FC Shakhtar Donetsk – TNT Sports 4

20:00 Celtic FC v ŠK Slovan Bratislava – TNT Sports 2

20:00 Club Brugge KV v Borussia Dortmund – TNT Sports 5

20:00 Manchester City v FC Internazionale Milano – TNT Sports 1

20:00 Paris Saint-Germain v Girona FC – TNT Sports 4

Changes at the back for Inter Milan, with Yann Aurel Bisseck, Francesco Acerbi and Alessandro Bastoni all brought in to a new-look defensive trio from the draw against Monza. Lautaro Martinez is only on the bench.

Inter Milan XI: Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Zieliński, Carlos Augusto; Thuram, Taremi.

Erling Haaland, a goal away from 100 in a Manchester City shirt, starts up front with Pep Guardiola going with a strong side.

Manchester City XI: Ederson; Lewis, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Rodri; Savinho, Silva, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland.