Why Simone Inzaghi's unbeaten streak in cup finals could spoil Man City's Treble dreams

Inter Milan head into Saturday's Champions League final showdown with Treble-chasing Manchester City as the underdogs.

But while many would be intimidated by the prospect of facing the Premier League and FA Cup champions, who are considered one of the best teams in world football, Simone Inzaghi's side have reason for optimism. Seven of them, in fact.

With an impressive seven-match winning streak in his managerial finals, the Italian coach will be well equipped to battle it out with his Spanish counterpart on Saturday.

He will be hoping to continue that record to cause a huge upset and dash City's Treble hopes in the process.

Ahead of the mouth-watering clash, Mail Sport have taken a look at the Italian's impressive resume in finals.

To find Inzaghi's first cup final defeat as a first-team coach, you have to cast your mind back to the 2016-17 campaign.

The Italian had taken charge of Serie A giants Lazio in April 2016 and one year later had managed to guide them to a Coppa Italia final.

There, they played against a formidable Juventus side that was filled with talent such as Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala and Claudio Marchisio.

While Lazio had some impressive players themselves - like Sergej Milinković-Savić and Ciro Immobile - it wasn't too be for Inzaghi's men.

Lazio came out second best on the day after Dani Alves and Leonardo Bonucci struck for the Old Lady and it proved to be a learning curve for the Italian.

It was only a matter of months before Lazio found themselves in another final and with a chance of redemption.

After Juventus had claimed both the Serie A title and Coppa Italia, it meant that Lazio were given a spot in the Supercoppa Italia because of them finishing as runners-up in the cup.

Facing the team that had crushed their Coppa Italia dreams just months prior, it was the perfect opportunity to exact revenge on the Old Lady.

Inzaghi's side ran out 3-2 winners on the night thanks to a brace from Immobile and a strike from Alessandro Murgia.

The victory saw the Serie A side claim their fourth Supercoppa Italia of their history and helped kick-start a successful period for the club.

They claimed the Coppa Italia two years later, during the 2018-19 season, after a 2-0 win over Atalanta before claiming the Supercoppa just a few months later.

Facing up against Juventus once more, Inzaghi's team recorded a 3-1 win over a side that boasted talent such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Adrien Rabiot and Rodrigo Bentancur.

The back-to-back successes would see Inzaghi get poached by Lazio's league rivals Inter Milan in May 2021, where he has continued his streak of final wins.

Inzaghi took over at Inter following Antonio Conte's departure, who had just clinched a historic Scudetto for the club.

This meant that Inzaghi would be involved in the 2021 Super Coppa Italia which they clinched with a 2-1 win against Juventus, thanks to an Alexis Sanchez strike in the dying moments of extra-time.

Inzaghi's first season was nothing short of a success and in his first year they faced the Old Lady once again - in the Coppa Italia final - and won it 4-2 after extra-time.

Now-Tottenham wing-back Ivan Perisic scored a brace, along with goals from Hakan Çalhanoglu and Nicolo Barella as Inzaghi added another major trophy to his cabinet.

It was nearly a historic double for the club but they were just pipped to the Serie A title by rivals AC Milan, who won the league by just two points.

However, Inzaghi got his vengeance shortly afterwards by handing out a 3-0 battering to their rivals in the Super Coppa Italia in January this year.

And their most recent success saw them inflict a 2-1 defeat on Europa Conference League finalists Fiorentina thanks to a brace from Lautaro Martinez.

Despite City's dominance in England, it's safe to say Inzaghi and his side will be full of confidence heading into Saturday's clash.

Inzaghi - and his Inter team - are not to be underestimated.