After ten years, Inter Milan will face the knockout stage of the Champions League. Can it challenge Liverpool?

Inter Milan, the Italian giant that has been on the rise in the last few years after years of crisis. Last year they won Serie A, now after ten years they are in the knockout stages of the Champions League. However, there it will face a very tough opponent, namely England’s Liverpool.

When José Mourinho led Inter to victory in the Champions League in the 2009/10 season, the Milan giant was on a high. But there is only so far down the road from there. The next year came elimination in the quarter-finals, and in the 2011/12 season even in the eighth round. And that was it for a long time.

Inter went on hiatus from the millionaire competition for a few years and only returned in the 2018/19 season. They finished third in a group with Barcelona, Tottenham and PSV. A year later, it was in another group of death with Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Slavia. He again failed to qualify and only finished in third place.

It was even worse last season. On paper, Inter finally got an acceptable group with Real Madrid, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Shakhtar Donetsk. But Inter completely burnt out, finishing last in the group and not even progressing to the Europa League.

This season they got a very similar group consisting of Real Madrid, Inter, Shakhtar and Sheriff Tiraspol. This time, the Milan side did better and finally made it to the knockout stage of the Champions League after ten years. The group winners were waiting for them from second place, and Inter were pipped by Liverpool.

Nothing easy, as the Reds won all the duels in their group. Salah in particular shone, netting 7 goals. Inter’s top scorer is Džeko with 3 goals.

Liverpool have relatively fresh memories of winning the Champions League title, which they dominated in the 2018/19 season. Since then, they have not done well in the millionaire’s competition, having failed twice against Madrid clubs.

In the defending season, he crashed out in the eighth round when he fell short to Atlético Madrid. Last season, the Reds went past Leipzig in the eighth round, but were clearly outplayed by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals and bid farewell to the competition.

This year, however, Klopp’s squad returns stronger and hungrier. In defence, a recovered Van Dijk is back, plus reinforcements Diogo Jota and Luis Díaz in attack. The German coach can count on a complete squad.

Massimiliano Farris has bigger problems to solve. Key midfielder Nicolo Barella will be unavailable due to a completely unnecessary red card at Real Madrid. Starting at stopper Alessandro Bastoni is also uncertain. Joaquín Correa and the long-term injured Robin Gosens are also unavailable.

Despite this, Inter are confident of getting the best possible result at home. It will certainly be needed for the rematch at Anfield Road.

Source: UEFA