A welcome distraction from the misery of Serie A awaits Inter on Wednesday, as they host Benfica in the 2nd leg of their Champions League quarter-final at San Siro on Wednesday.
To Win Match
Inter Milan 11/10 | Draw 12/5 | Benfica 12/5
Inter Milan
The Champions League has been something of a relief for Simone Inzaghi as his Inter side have been knocked from pillar to post since the turn of the year. Across their previous 8 fixtures, across all competitions, his team have won just once (Draw 3 Loss 4), with that win coming on the European front.
Indeed, this isn’t the first time in the tournament that the Italian heavyweight’s have come up against Portuguese opposition. Earlier in the competition, FC Porto where dispatched in the Round of 16, thanks to a goal from then substitute Romelu Lukaku.
The Nerazzuri were the victims of a smash and grab on domestic duties over the weekend, going down 1 nil at home to Italian topflight newcomers Monza. If that wasn’t a big enough pill to swallow, that was the third time Inter had blanked in their previous three home fixtures, across all competitions.
Despite this, their sights will be firmly set on putting on a performance at the San Siro.
Predicted Line-up: Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Brozovic, Dimarco; Dzeko, Martinez
Benfica
Benfica have certainly made the rest of Europe sit back and take notice. After impressing in the Uefa Champions League group stages (where they were only out gunned by Napoli’s 25 goals compared to their 23), they smashed Club Brugge 7-1 on aggregate to book their place in the quarter finals.
The first leg went the way of their Italian counterparts, however, that was Benfica’s first loss in the tournament, and they’ve got no time to mull over that. If they can overturn that 2 nil deficit on their travels, they’d become just the third Portuguese club to make the UCL semi finals, after FC Porto (doing so in 1993/94 and in 2003/04).
Recent performances tell me otherwise. It has been a steady descent for the Eagles who have now lost three competitive games in a row for the first time in four and a half years.
Predicted Line-up: Vlachodimos; Gilberto, A. Silva, Otamendi, Grimaldo; Florentino, Aursnes; Neres, R. Silva, Mario; Ramos
Verdict: Inter Milan 11/10
Internazionale have won three consecutive home games in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since November 2010 (in a 7-game run) en route to lifting the coveted trophy in the 2009/10 season. I expect they will make that four in a row as they book their place in the semi-final where AC Milan awaits.
