The 2025 Club World Cup will see another highlight in the round of 16, with Al-Hilal facing Premier League giants Manchester City. Inzaghi said at a press conference that Manchester City coach Guardiola has brought a new philosophy to football and that Guardiola is a role model for coaches to learn from.

Al-Hilal appointed Inzaghi, who had led Serie A giants Inter Milan to win many honors, as head coach at the beginning of this month. During his coaching career at Inter Milan, Inzaghi led the team to win one Serie A title, two Italian Cup titles and three Italian Super Cup titles.

In the 2024/25 season, Inzaghi also led the "Blue and Black Army" into the Champions League final, but unfortunately they only finished second.

When talking about Manchester City coach Guardiola, Al-Hilal coach Inzaghi said, "I believe that many coaches will regard Guardiola as a source of inspiration when they start coaching the team."

"Guardiola has ushered in a new era in football. He has pioneered a new philosophy of football and I think he is the best manager in the past 25 years."

It is worth mentioning that Inter Milan, led by Inzaghi, successfully advanced to the Champions League final in the 2022/23 season, but lost to Manchester City after Rodri scored a goal, thus missing the Champions League title.

Recalling previous encounters, Inzaghi shared, “Playing against Manchester City is a huge challenge. I played against them in the Champions League last season. It was a wonderful game with both sides having chances to score. In the final in Istanbul, maybe Inter deserved it more. We were a little unlucky and Manchester City won the game, and they are really a great team.”

In addition, Al-Hilal achieved 1 win and 2 draws in the group stage of this Club World Cup and advanced to the round of 16 as the second place.

Inzaghi said, "Manchester City plays world-class football and they have excellent ball possession. We are facing one of the strongest teams in the world. They have won all three group matches and are in very good form. The depth of the squad is also impressive. We have been as fully prepared as possible and we know that this game is an opportunity for us to grow. We will do our best and perform at our best against a strong opponent."

"We will definitely be under a lot of pressure for long periods of time but we will also have to keep the ball as much as possible because we know they are very good on the counter-attack."