Manchester City 0-0 Inter: Champions League – live reaction | Champions League

So what does this mean in terms of the league table? Not much, bordering on nothing. Not yet. But here we are anyway.

İlkay Gündoğan had a couple of big chances to snatch victory at the end, but otherwise Manchester City weren’t quite on their game tonight. Inter were highly decent, though, defensively impressive and dangerous on the counter; with some better decision-making, they would have made something of their breaks upfield. It’s also still difficult to understand why Matteo Darmian, storming into the box, opted to backheel instead of shoot. But the draw, on balance, was about right. Both teams will surely feature at the business end of this tournament, even if the start of their League Stage campaign hasn’t been perfect.

A City performance less Definitely Maybe, more Dig Out Your Soul.

90 min +4: Doku crosses from the right. Gundogan launches himself at the ball, heading it over the bar from six yards. What a chance to snatch all three points at the death!

90 min +3: Doku clumsily clips Mkhitaryan, who needs no invitation to go down and eat up some clock.

90 min +2: Doku wins another corner down the right. City pressing hard for a late winner. Foden swings in again; Martinez heads clear again.

90 min +1: Martinez powerfully heads Foden’s corner clear.

90 min: Doku turns on the jets and wins a corner on the right. Foden to take. There will be four additional minutes.

89 min: Gvardiol dinks a cross in from the left. Acerbi misses his header. Gundogan doesn’t, planting a fierce one straight at Sommer from eight yards. The keeper claims. Either side of the keeper and the net was surely bulging.

87 min: Foden, on the left-hand edge of the Inter D, aims for the bottom right. He doesn’t quite catch it and it’s easy pickings for Sommer.

86 min: Rodri, whose shooting from distance did for Inter in Istanbul, has a rake from 25 yards. This one flies harmlessly wide left.

85 min: Barella sends Martinez scampering into acres of space down he left. The pass is overhit, though, and the chance for Martinez to drive directly into the box is gone. He’s forced wide, and though he drifts back in and gets a shot away, it’s easily read and claimed by Ederson. Inter have had their chances tonight.

83 min: Lewis has the opportunity to release the very quiet Haaland down the inside-right channel, but overhits the pass. Inter are more than happy to usher the ball out for a goal kick.

82 min: Hakan Çalhanoğlu is replaced by Davide Frattesi.

80 min: Bernardo Silva makes way for Jérémy Doku.

79 min: Foden scampers in from the right and rolls across for Gvardiol, who pearls a fine shot towards the bottom right from the edge of the D. Sommer parries with a strong hand.

78 min: City pass it around but go nowhere fast.

76 min: Dumfries immediately finds himself in the thick of it, tearing down the right and crossing low. City don’t deal with the situation, and Mkhitaryan shoots from ten yards. He’s got to hit the target – he’s got to score, really – but leans back and hoicks over. He puts his head in his hands, as well he might. What a miss!

75 min: Before the free kick can be taken, Inter replace Yann Bisseck and Matteo Darmian with Denzel Dumfries and Benjamin Pavard. Then the free kick is flicked harmlessly wide right of goal by Akanji.

74 min: Grealish nutmegs Barella and is forcefully body-checked by the Inter captain for his sauce. Barella should go into the book, but it’s just a free kick. Pep shrugs theatrically to make his point.

73 min: Inter clear the corner with ease.

72 min: Rodri works the ball wide left to Grealish, who drops a shoulder but can’t quite get past Darmian, who deflects his shot out for a corner. Gundogan to take from the left.

70 min: Gundogan meets a ball dropping over his shoulder and slices it high and wide. City finally beginning to bare their teeth.

69 min: The game almost grinds to a halt, but then suddenly City go through the gears. Gvardiol, Gundogan and Grealish paint pretty triangles down the inside-left channel before slipping a pass to Foden on the penalty spot. He slams his shot straight at Sommer, who smothers.

68 min: Foden swings a free kick in from the left. Haaland winds his neck back, but Augusto heads clear.

67 min: Mkhitaryan’s first act is to blooter a clearance halfway up the pitch. There’s not a lot going on right now. “I can’t get too het up about the bazillion different strips that clubs have nowadays,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Yeah, some of them are aesthetical grotesques, but even that is interesting. And occasionally a weird experiment becomes a new classic, like Juventus’ pink jersey with a off-centre black star. Variety is the spice of life and all that.”

65 min: Piotr Zieliński and Marcus Thuram are replaced by Lautaro Martínez and – to pantomime boos – former Manchester United star Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

63 min: It’s the Inter fans making most of the noise right now. The City support quiet, their team unable to really get going.

61 min: Barella curls in low from the right. Taremi waits to slot home from ten yards but Akanji hooks clear just in time. “Are we sure the Man City kit is inspired by Oasis the band?” asks Ronan Beattie. “Looks more like it was inspired by Oasis the soft drink.”

59 min: This is getting scrappy. All a bit ragged. Speaking of the rag trade … “The dystopic scenarios mentioned by David Wall have already happened,” reports Giovanni Cafagna. “Last year AC Milan, in the middle of the season, issued a one-off kit edition especially designed by a fashion-house, which was worn only once by the team. It was obviously a sell-out with the supporters. Then they even went molecular, so to speak. Following the unplanned event of having no goalkeeper substitute, and Olivier Giroud taking on the responsibility, and making even a fine save on the last minute of the match, they swiftly issued a one-off goalkeeper shirt with 1 and Giroud printed at the back. Again, it sold out quicker than you can say…Giroud. I’m not going to elaborate on tonight city kit, basically it’s a yellow bib printed over a blue shirt. Bleah!”

57 min: Grealish is robbed on the edge of the Inter box and Barella counters. That could have been a foul on Grealish actually, Çalhanoğlu barging him from behind. But then Barella is cynically bowled over by an in-flight Gvardiol, who is fortunate not to go into the book, so it all balances out. Sort of. We play on.

55 min: Thuram drives hard down the left and cuts back for Zieliński, whose effort from the edge of the box goes out for a throw on the right. Many ironic cheers soundtrack the ball as it bobbles apologetically off the field of play. Inzaghi is now red hot with the purest anger.

53 min: Oh this is absurd. Taremi barges infield from the left and slips Darmian clear down the right channel. Darmian enters the box and has to shoot, but strangely decides to backheel the ball in the hope of teeing up Barella behind him. There’s no accuracy and the chance is gone. Simone Inzaghi tears along the touchline in a hot fury. Darmian will hear about that again later, along with some beneficial advice.

52 min: Foden goes skittering down the right and is brought to the floor. Free kick, and a chance for everyone to line up on the edge of the Inter box. Gundogen and Foden play it short, though, and the former races off down the wing. He crosses. It’s cleared. This half hasn’t really taken off yet.

50 min: Inter take their turn to knock it around the back. Sommer gives Barella a bit of a hospital pass in the box but the Inter captain calmly traps, turns and clears.

48 min: Foden has a crack from 25 yards, a curler that’s always high and wide of the top-left corner.

47 min: City stroke it around in the low-energy style. Not much going on right now.

Inter get the second half underway. City have made two changes, replacing Kevin De Bruyne and Savinho with İlkay Gündoğan and Phil Foden. Pep clearly taking no risks with his captain, who picked up a knock towards the end of the first half.

Half-time essay, courtesy of David Wall. “Isn’t this proliferation of different shirts getting ridiculous now? Not only are they changed every season (I would swear there was a rule not that long ago that teams had to keep them for at least two seasons, but perhaps that went the way of referees’ initiative each season, quickly getting forgotten after an initial flourish) but some teams have almost enough kits to have a different one for each competition they play in. What next, changing them at the halfway point in the season? Christmas-themed special-edition kits? A new kit for the end of season run-in, at least for those teams still involved in a title challenge or a relegation battle? Hopefully that will be something that the independent regulator does something about if they ever get appointed.”

Keep it down, David, for goodness sake. You’ll be giving them ideas.

There’s just enough time for Barella to launch a counter, Augusto shooting from a tight angle on the left, Ederson pushing the ball around the post for a corner, from which Barella volleys over. And that’s the end of the first half. Inter will be the happier team.

45 min: There will be one additional first-half minute.

44 min: De Bruyne will continue for now, with half-time so close. Nothing comes of the corner.

43 min: Haaland snaffles possession 30 yards from the Inter goal and Grealish sends De Bruyne into the box on the left. He shoots from a tight angle. Sommer closes the angle to parry out for a corner. Before it can be taken, De Bruyne goes down holding his groin. He doesn’t look particularly happy.

41 min: Zieliński advances down the left and cuts back for Thuram, who should make Ederson work at the very least, but slaps his shot from the edge of the box wide left.