Inter Milan v Real Madrid – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Inter Milan welcome Real Madrid to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League. These sides faced each other in the group stage last year as Los Blancos won 3-2 at home and 2-0 away. Both sides have new coaches this season in Simone Inzaghi and Carlo Ancelotti. The former never played under Ancelotti but his brother Filippo Inzaghi knows Madrid’s new coach well.

Inter Milan Form

Inter failed to get out of their group in last season’s competition with defeats home and away to Real Madrid and two goalless draws against Shakhtar Donetsk. They won the Serie A title under Antonio Conte as their final four matches included a 5-1 win against Sampdoria, a 3-1 win against Roma and a 5-1 victory against Udinese.

Under new coach Simone Inzaghi, Inter began this season with a 4-0 win against Genoa before winning 3-1 at Genoa. Their match this weekend saw a 2-2 draw at Sampdoria having led twice. Federico Dimarco and Lautaro Martinez scored the goals.

Inter Milan Team News

Inter should be able to welcome back Alessandro Bastoni in the back three after he was rested for the last match. Christian Eriksen remains absent and is not expected to return any time soon, if at all.

Inter’s side looks relatively settled with Matteo Darmian replacing Achraf Hakimi after his move to PSG whilst Romelu Lukaku’s place has gone to Edin Dzeko. Simone Inzaghi has stuck with the 3-5-2 that Conte favoured. Ivan Perisic is playing more often this season at left wingback.

Inter Milan Motivation

Inter lost both matches to Madrid last season and failed to get out of a group which also included Shakhtar. They need a win from this match or at least to take a point and stop Madrid pulling away.

Inzaghi’s style isn’t much different to Conte so his sides play out from the back but are capable of sitting deep and playing on the counter, albeit without Lukaku’s pace. They may therefore need to try to dominate the ball and service Dzeko with crosses.

attacking in this match and drawing 1-1 or 2-2. If Eriksen does not start, expect him to be a big weapon from set plays off the bench.

Real Madrid Form

Real crashed out in last season’s semi-final having lost 3-1 on aggregate to Chelsea in what could have been a higher score-line. Zinedine Zidane left to be replaced by Carlo Ancelotti and the side look free scoring again. A 4-1 win at Alaves began the season with Karim Benzema scoring a brace.

A 3-3 draw away at Levante followed after twice coming from behind. Los Blancos then won 1-0 at Real Betis after a Dani Carvajal winner. Their last match saw a superb outing as they beat Celta Vigo 5-2 with Benzema netting a hattrick.

Real Madrid Team News

Real’s Brazilian trio of Casemiro, Militao and Vinicius all started and came through unscathed against Celta Vigo. Four players who are expected to miss the match through injury are winger Gareth Bale, midfielders Toni Kroos and Dani Ceballos and defender David Alaba.

Ancelotti will have to choose veteran Marcelo and academy graduate Miguel Gutiérrez due to Ferland Mendy still being out injured with a long-term problem.

Real Madrid Motivation

With Shakhtar Donetsk and Sheriff in the group, these two teams are favourites to progress. Real Madrid would probably be satisfied to draw this match in Italy and look to win the return match.

Ancelotti’s side are looking confident with 13 goals scored in four matches and he won’t set his side up to sit back and absorb pressure in this match.

Key Stats

Inter have scored 24 goals in their last 7 matches

Inter Milan have 17 consecutive home matches in Serie A

Inter have won 1 of their last 8 home CL matches (D5, L2)

Madrid have scored 13 goals in 4 matches this season

Real beat Inter home and away last season in the CL group stage

Real Madrid have conceded 7 goals in 4 matches this season after Ramos and Varane departed

Prediction

This match isn’t easy to call. The stats suggest that both teams carry a major attacking threat and neither is looking particularly strong defensively. Backing a draw with some goals looks a good bet considering Inter’s five draws in their last eight at home in the Champions League.