Inter vs Real Madrid: Déjà vu for Nerazzurri and Los Blancos
For the second straight season, Inter and Real Madrid will square off in the Champions League. Inter, who won their first Scudetto since 2010 last season, will kick off their Champions League campaign with a home tie against Los Blancos at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Wednesday evening. Now under the guidance of former Lazio boss Simone Inzaghi, the Nerazzurri will look to also rebound after a surprise 2-2 draw with a Sampdoria side who refused to go down without a fight.
Los Blancos will arrive in Milan sitting in first place thanks to their 5-2 win over Celta de Vigo, during which Karim Benzema put in a man of the match performance and scored a hat-trick. However, Real Madrid are dealing with some injury concerns at the moment, making Ancelotti’s starting XI selection that much more difficult.
Key players like Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, and David Alaba all missed out on the team’s match over the weekend, and none are expected to take part in the trip to Italy. In addition, Ferland Mendy and Dani Ceballos look set to miss out due to leg and ankle injuries, while veteran defender Marcelo suffered a muscular injury in Monday’s training, meaning that, youngster Miguel Gutierrez will again gain a spot in the starting XI.
It’s safe to say which side of the pitch Inter will be targeting for many of their attacks, especially considering Gutierrez is only 20 years old. And while many will say that Real Madrid are the favorites just due to their sheer number of trophies in this competition, Inter have actually done pretty well for themselves when it comes to taking on the Spanish giants at home. So far, they’ve beaten them in four out of their last six meetings at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, but of major concern is their overall record, which has seen them lose four of their five most recent encounters.
A win, of course, would put Inter in good stead to not just qualify for the round of 16, but potentially head into the first knockout rounds as group winners. Inter and Real Madrid have two very weak opponents, Eastern European outfits Shaktar and Sheriff, with the latter making their debut this season, so it’s a surefire guarantee that the battle for the top two spots will be between the Nerazzurri and Los Blancos.
The only question is to which side – if either – will come out on top here. Although it’s only the first match, both teams will know that each other presents their only real challenger in an otherwise rather lopsided group, so if Inter can beat Real Madrid, they truly do have a shot to, as mentioned before, top this group and hopefully get an easier draw in the round of 16. Likewise, of course, for Real Madrid, who will certainly fancy their chances at securing all 12 points against the Eastern European minnows of Shaktar and Sheriff, so will want to go all out in their two-legged series with Inter to also put themselves in prime spot at winning Group D.
