Inter travel to Porto with a one-goal advantage as they take on the Portuguese champions at the Estadio do Dragao in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Tuesday night.
Inconsistency continues to damage Inter’s aspirations for the season and two defeats in their last three have all but ended their hopes of winning the Scudetto. After a narrow 1-0 win in the first leg over Porto, the Nerazzurri suffered a 1-0 defeat away at Bologna. A 2-0 home win over Lecce would follow but last Friday’s 2-1 defeat away at Spezia leaves them 18 points behind Napoli at the Serie A summit.
The Dragons failed to respond in their Primeira Liga fixture following the defeat at the San Siro and suffered a surprising 2-1 defeat at home to Gil Vicente, also receiving two red cards in the process. However, they have now followed that up with victories over Chaves and Estoril. Nonetheless, they remain some distance behind Benfica who lead the pack in Portugal this term.
It seems unlikely that Porto will be able to challenge Benfica for the title this season and so their focus will now be on maintaining their place in the Champions League next season. Braga are just two points behind Porto in third and are hot on their tails.
Preview
Porto
Sergio Conceição’s men were certainly impressive at the group stage of the Champions League this term, topping Group B ahead of Club Brugge, Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid. Despite suffering defeats in their opening two matches, Porto turned things around and won their final four group games to secure qualification.
With the title seemingly over for the Dragons, Porto will be putting their all into qualifying for the quarter-finals. That would equal their 2020/21 performance after they reached the last eight, before being eliminated by Chelsea. However, they have already improved upon their showing in Europe from last season, having failed to make it out of the group stage. With the match evenly poised, we are set for a fascinating battle in Portugal.
Player to Watch: Mehdi Taremi
The Iranian forward continues to lead the line for Porto to great effect. He has scored 13 league goals in 24 appearances in Primeira Liga so far this season, also providing six assists. The 30-year-old has also scored five goals in the Champions League so far this term and will be the biggest threat Inter will have to deal with.
Inter
The Nerazzurri have felt the absence of Milan Skriniar in recent weeks and the Slovakian international has featured in just one of Inter’s previous five games due to a back injury. It just goes to show how vital the 28-year-old is to Simeone Inzaghi’s side and Inter will face a huge task at trying to replace him over the summer, as he will join Paris Saint-Germain on a free at the end of his contract.
The visitors have won in all three of their last three meetings with Porto but they were played at the San Siro and Inter head into the return leg without the support of their home fans. The Dragons recorded a 2-0 win over Inter when they last hosted the Italian side back in 2005. A Marco Materazzi own goal and a Benni McCarthy second would secure a group stage victory back then.
Player to Watch: Romelu Lukaku
Despite the Belgian forward struggling for fitness for most parts of the season, Lukaku seems to be establishing some form for Inter. He has now scored three goals in his last five appearances, including the only goal in the first leg. He will likely partner Lautaro Martinez up top.
Mehdi Taremi ⭐MVP Liga Portugal
André Franco ⭐Mérito e Valores Porto#FCPGDEP pic.twitter.com/FAxcvSQM5w— FC Porto (@FCPorto) March 10, 2023
Team News
The hosts continue to be met with a host of selection issues and will be without key midfielder Otavio for the return leg after he was dismissed at the San Siro. Forward Evanilson will also be missing as he continues in his recovery from a thigh issue.
The inclusion of Galeno could also be important as the Brazilian midfielder returned to action against Estoril last Friday. It remains unclear whether he will be fit enough to start but he offers an important offensive threat for Porto, especially with the absence of Otavio. Full-back Joao Mario is in doubt after being forced off with an injury last time out.
The main concern for Inter ahead of the huge clash is the verdict on Skriniar’s injury. He has missed the last three games for the Nerazzurri and so even if he is available for selection, he may not get the nod in the starting lineup. Latest reports suggest, however, that he will be ready to feature in the squad. Joaquin Correa will also be absent since he has been missing from the end of January.
Porto vs Inter Potential Lineups
Porto (4-4-2): Diogo Costa; Joao Mario, Pepe, Ivan Marcano, Zaidu; Andre Franco, Mateus Uribe, Marko Grujic, Galeno; Mehdi Taremi, Pepe
Inter (3-5-2): Andre Onana; Matteo Darmian, Francesco Acerbi, Alessandro Bastoni; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Marcelo Brozovic, Hakan Calhanoglu, Federico Dimarco; Romelu Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez
Porto vs Inter Prediction
It will be a close affair in Porto on Tuesday night and it could go either way, especially with Inter being so inconsistent. Their poor away form, which has seen them fail to win in any of their last three matches on their travels, will also play to Porto’s advantage.
Home support will give Porto an edge since they have suffered just one defeat at the Estadio do Dragao in their last 13 games. However, injuries will play a factor in the match too and the hosts will be far from their best.
We’re predicting a 1-0 win for Porto on the night before needing extra time and potentially penalties to decide the affair. If the game does go the distance, the selection issues for Porto could make even more of an impact and so we are backing Inter to qualify by the barest of margins.
Prediction: Porto win on the night but Inter to qualify