Treble winner Sneijder backs Inter for another underdog triumph

Wesley Sneijder is backing his old club Inter Milan to seal another surprise Champions League success on Saturday evening.

Dutch icon Sneijder, 39, was part of the Nerazzurri side that stunned Europe in 2010 to lift the famous trophy against the odds.

Jose Mourinho's group — who also won Serie A and Coppa Italia that season — thrived on their underdog status when dispatching the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona and Bayern Munich on the road to glory.

And treble winner Sneijder believes Simone Inzaghi's current crop are capable of repeating the feat 13 years on against the much-fancied Manchester City. 

The former midfielder said: "We will not see an Inter who are going to attack. 

"They will be very organised and City is the one who is going to attack. Then you have to stand for a while.

"If it's going to be 0-0 at half-time, then of course there are possibilities.

"My prediction is, it's going to end up with penalties. I think it's going to be 1-1. And Inter will win on penalties."

Missing part

One man Inter will have to keep quiet is City's goal machine Erling Haaland — someone who Sneijder admits has taken Pep Guardiola's side to the next level.

He explained: "He was the missing part of City. They really needed a striker and he is the one who is scoring goals, who is making a difference to all the technical players around him. 

"Guardiola did fantastic to buy him, to work with him and directly make him so important to the team."

And though he will be cheering their opponents in Istanbul, the 134-cap international is in awe of the job Guardiola has done with the Citizens.

Sneijder added: "When he arrived at City, of course, he had the possibility of buying a lot of players. To spend a lot of money. 

"But you cannot buy trophies. So he needed to build a team, and that's what he did.

"Now, this season, he got the team playing how he wants. He made the team like how he wants.

"It took some years, but I think now this City is on top level and let me say like this, it's going to be very hard for Inter to beat them, but they are in the final and a final is a final.

"All compliments to Guardiola for what he's done at City."