Stakes are high at the Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid and Inter go head-to-head in a top-table UEFA Champions League Group D encounter. Sat two points adrift of Los Blancos ahead of Matchday 6, the Nerazzurri need to capture a victory in the Spanish capital to ensure a seeded status in the knock-out draw.
Both sides head into proceedings in high spirits. While Madrid strung together eight wins in all competitions since a scoreless La Liga draw with Osasuna in late October, Inter are enjoying a five-game winning streak in competitive action. Therefore, neutrals could be in for a treat.
Coming into the Champions League group stage finale, Los Merengues cruised past direct La Liga title rivals Real Sociedad 2-0 on the road to set themselves up nicely for this fixture. But Inter were equally impressive in Serie A last weekend, putting three unanswered goals past old foes Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
Real Madrid vs Inter Head-to-Head
Brazilian starlet Rodrygo notched up an 89th-minute winner to decide an evenly-contested reverse fixture in Lombardia, catapulting Real Madrid to a narrow 1-0 victory. The Spanish heavyweights have now won their last three Champions League meetings with Inter, all since the start of the 2020/21 campaign.
However, two of those three defeats yielded a single-goal margin, suggesting Inter won’t roll over without a fight. Adding to the Italians’ confidence, they attempted 18 shots on goal in the reverse fixture compared with Madrid’s 12. So it could go down to improving their conversion rate this time around.
Los Merengues have beaten Inter in all but one of their eight home encounters in UEFA-sanctioned competitions, barring a 2-0 loss in the European Cup back in 1967. Since then, the Bernabeu has turned into an impregnable fortress for the Nerazzurri, who have lost their last six European matches at this venue, conceding 2+ goals on each occasion.
Real Madrid Form Preview
Since falling to an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat to Moldovan minnows Sheriff Tiraspol on Matchday 2, Real Madrid have gone from strength to strength in the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti’s men have won their last three Group D outings by an aggregate score of 10-2 to lock down a berth in the competition’s round of 16 with two games to spare.
Given Madrid’s household stature in European football, it’s not surprising that they boast the highest average of 2.2 goals scored per Champions League match among teams to have played 50+ games in the competition. Excluding qualifiers, they have netted 999 goals in 454 Champions League fixtures, meaning another strike here would see them reach a 1000-goal milestone.
Los Blancos enter this round as pre-match favorites and have an eye-catching recent record against Serie A sides to back that status. Indeed, they have won 12 of their last 13 Champions League clashes against Italian adversaries (L1), including the last eight on the trot.
Inter Form Preview
A stuttering two-game start to this Champions League campaign (D1, L1) triggered a wave of fear amongst the Giuseppe Meazza faithful. Following a scoreless away draw at Shakhtar Donetsk on Matchday 2, it looked like Inter could fail to make it out of the Champions League group stages for the fourth season running.
However, Simone Inzaghi’s men have picked themselves up, racking up three consecutive Group D wins to ensure their first knock-out stage appearance in the competition since 2011/12. Inter followed up a brace of 3-1 victories over Sheriff with a comprehensive 2-0 triumph over Shakhtar to boost spirits ahead of this mouth-watering showdown.
Yet, a trip to Spain could stir painful memories. Since picking up a 5-1 win at Valencia in 2004, the Nerazzurri have gone winless in their last seven European visits to the country (D1, L6). By contrast, the reigning Serie A holders have won four of their last five away matches in all competitions (D1) by at least a two-goal margin, highlighting the potential for staging an upset here.
Real Madrid vs Inter Predicted Line-ups
Real Madrid (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Ferland Mendy, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Dani Carvajal; Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Federico Valverde; Marco Asensio, Luka Jovic, Vinicius Junior.
Inter (3-5-2): Samir Handanovic; Danilo D’Ambrosio, Milan Skriniar, Alessandro Bastoni; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Marcelo Brozovic, Hakan Calhanoglu, Ivan Perisic; Lautaro Martinez, Edin Dzeko.