Inter take on the visitors Atletico Madrid in the first leg of UEFA Champions League 1/8-finals. The match will be played on Tuesday, February 20th at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro) (Milan).
Inter's main priority should be Serie A. Under Antonio Conte, the Nerazzurri managed to regain their status as the country's champions. However, it became evident that Chinese investors had to drastically cut funding – and immediately, Conte left the project. He was replaced by Inzaghi, who, overall, did a decent job. However, the talk of the Scudetto was no longer on the table. But now everything has changed, and it is Inter who leads the current league table. Moreover, they recently managed to defeat their main competitor, Juventus, at home, winning 1-0. However, it seems that they have to sacrifice other tournaments for Serie A. After winning a couple of trophies in this cup competition, the grand club lost to Bologna at home. However, they successfully performed in Saudi Arabia, defeating Lazio and Napoli there, winning the Super Cup for the third time. Moreover, in the Champions League, the 2023 finalist didn't win against Real Sociedad and only secured the second place in the group – and as a kind of punishment, they will face such a powerful opponent in the round of 16.
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Atletico also traveled to Saudi Arabia, a little earlier than their Italian counterpart, for the Super Cup, but in Spain. However, they didn't stay there long: losing in extra time to Real, they were defeated in the very first match there. However, upon returning home, they immediately got revenge against the Creams, with an identical scenario in the cup: after a draw in regular time, they scored a couple of goals past Lunin in extra time. As a result, they reached the semifinals in the Copa del Rey, although there they lost to Athletic, failing to respond to Beringer's penalty goal. Nevertheless, there will be another attempt for revenge in Bilbao. They are also in a dispute with the Basques for the right to finish in the top 4, where the poor but sturdy Girona are also stationed. They have certainly improved in the Champions League. In 2022, Cholo's Team failed there, finishing last, fourth in their quartet. This time they managed to win their group, but it was also memorable for the episode in Rome, where in the final storm, Provodel's goal brought Lazio a 1-1 draw.
In 2010, this pair played for the UEFA Super Cup, and then the Spaniards were clearly stronger, ending with a 2-0 victory. Eight years later, they met in the International Champions Cup, and there the Italians narrowly won. It's unlikely that the central match will be spectacular, as the opponents are very pragmatic. Let's bet on total under 2.5 goals.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 scored goals.
