Inter Milan's arrival in the UEFA Champions League final is the latest achievement in Simone Inzaghi's under-appreciated coaching career and has highlighted his ability to defy expectations.

But he collides with another coach he considers the match of a lifetime, Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, who won all domestic titles with the Premier League champions and eluded him with the European title that the English team had never achieved before.

The former striker spent his career as a player in the shadow of his older brother Filippo, a great goalscorer with top Italian clubs and a two-time World Cup and Champions League winner.

Simeone has played most of his career for Lazio and is loved by the capital team's fans, although he has a mediocre goalscoring record and only league title with them in 2000.

But on the coaching front, Simeone is ahead of his brother and oversees one of Europe's top clubs, while Filippo coaches in the lower divisions.

Now he has the chance to win the most expensive European Cups against Manchester City in Istanbul on Saturday, just as his brother did as a player in 2003 and 2007 with Inter's rivals Milan, knowing that the Turkish city holds bad memories for Filippo after he squandered with Milan a 3-0 lead at half-time in the 2005 final against Liverpool, losing on penalties.

Champions League, Coppa Italia, UEFA Cup and more 🏆

The Nerazzurri's top 15 goals in various ⚽️ finals #ChampionsLeague | #فورزا_إنتر | #UCLFinal

— Inter (@Inter_ar) June 7, 2023

Inzaghi: The most important game for me

Inzaghi, 47, told reporters on Monday: "It's the most important game for me ever, but I think it's the case of my players, because we have players like (Bosnian striker Edin) Dzeko and (Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre) Onana, who played in the semi-finals and never played a final."

"It will be a compensation for all the efforts we have made, it has been a long and difficult year."

Road to the Final ✨: The perfect goal of elegant Dzeko 🤩 #UCLFinal | ⚫🔵 #فورزا_إنتر pic.twitter.com/Em3KDGeTG4

— Inter (@Inter_ar) June 7, 2023

After retiring from football at Lazio in 2010, he stayed with the team and oversaw the youth teams, before being given the first team job from 2016.

He had a direct impact, bringing the Eagles back into European competitions, leading them to the domestic cup final, which they lost to Juventus, who dominated Italian football at the time.

Lazio often stand in the shadow of Roma, their arch-rivals in the capital, and are hampered by budget compared to Italy's Big Three Juventus, Inter and Milan, which are also relatively "poor" clubs in Europe.

After winning the Coppa Italia in 2019 and winning two Super Cups, both against Juventus (2017 and 2019), and leading Lazio to a fourth place in the Champions League in 2020, he caught the eye of cash-strapped Inter to succeed Antonio Conte, who led the team to Serie A in 2021.

12 matches ⚔
7 wins ✅
19 goals ⚽

How about we enjoy all the goals we scored in #دوري_أبطال_أوروبا 2022/23? 🤩 #UCLFinal | ⚫🔵 #فورزا_إنتر

— Inter (@Inter_ar) June 6, 2023

New style

Inzaghi arrived at Inter two years ago when the club was about to enter a dark tunnel following Conte's departure and the sale of Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku and Moroccan full-back Achraf Hakimi, the team's most prominent Scudetto stars.

Lukaku's sale to Chelsea has angered not only fans, but also chief executive Giuseppe Marotta and Inzaghi, according to reports, and fans have protested outside the club's headquarters.

But after being used to offering so much in what is available to him with Lazio, he made up for the stars' absence with mediocre deals rather than complaining about selling them on arrival.

He created a new style of play, drawing the best from all elements of his team, not just a few key players, including veterans like Dzeko, who will play his first Champions League final at the age of 37 against his old club Manchester City.

Despite failing to retain the league title, which was not originally expected, they are runners-up to Milan by just two points in 2022.

He led Inter to two Coppa Italia titles and the Super Cup, and to the Champions League final, something no coach has done since Jose Mourinho won the treble with Nerazzurri in 2010.

Next Saturday's final is not only Inter's first in the continental competition since 2010, but the first for an Italian club since 2017.

This comes after leading them last season to the knockout stages for the first time in 10 years, before losing to Liverpool in the final eighth.

Inzaghi used that experience to take himself into football's most important club game, a clash he believes he can win despite nominations for City, who are seeking a historic treble.

"We're talking about a football game, there's no fear. We have all the respect (for City) but we're proud to play this final because we wanted it in an indescribable way."

So why stop now?
From Milano to the stars.

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Special thanks to @zoesaldana and her beautiful voice 🖤💙 #ForzaInter #UCL #UCLFinal pic.twitter.com/pdRxrPwidB

— Inter (@Inter_ar) June 7, 2023