Inter didn’t follow in the footsteps of their Milanese cousins in the first leg of the Champions League round of sixteen against Feyenoord, easily winning in the traditionally difficult De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam and effectively guaranteeing their qualification to the quarter finals. In Holland last Wednesday, the so-called “ThuLa”, the forward duo of Thuram and Lautaro Martinez, took center stage: with a goal each (0-2), the Frenchman and the Argentine allowed Simone Inzaghi – the coach from Piacenza has in the meantime become the most successful Nerazzurri coach in the cup with the big ears, overtaking Roberto Mancini – to “book” a place among the top 8 in Europe.
An almost flawless performance by Inter in the Netherlands, as also shown by the xG (2.25 for the Italian champions): the only regret is the penalty for the possible 3-0 missed by Zielinski, which could have further rounded off the result. In any case, a comeback by Feyenoord at San Siro seems unlikely – Robin van Persie’s men would have to win by at least three goals – although Inter shouldn’t run the risk of being “distracted” by the league. Thanks to their hard-fought win against bottom club Monza (3-2) last Saturday, Lautaro Martinez and his teammates have maintained their lead at the top of the table, but Napoli and Atalanta – the latter being the Nerazzurri’s next opponents – are still close behind (Napoli are 1 point behind and Atalanta 3 points behind).
Inzaghi’s turnover
Another pitfall for Inzaghi could be tiredness due to the close succession of matches: against the Brianza team, Inter were somewhat careless in defense, even ending up 2 goals down.
The coach will therefore try to ration his energy for the Feyenoord game: he has a medical room that is slowly emptying to help him. Sommer will be back in goal, but Carlos Augusto is also available again. In midfield, Asllani and Calhanoglu will be vying for a place – the Turkish player, despite still being on half-time, played a great game with Monza – while in attack Taremi will give Lautaro a rest. The list of injured players at Feyenoord is still very long: van Persie has Read back from the first leg, but will be without Bijlow, Gonzalez, Lotomba, Nieuwkoop, Trauner, Timber, Hwang In-beom, Milambo, Nadje, Stengs, Osman and Zerrouki. The Rotterdam club, fifth in the Eredivisie, did not take the field over the weekend: the league match with Groningen has been postponed.
Odds comparison
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The prediction
A match that shouldn’t hold any surprises, the one at San Siro. Feyenoord, still in need of reinforcements, don’t seem to have any chance of putting Inter in difficulty and reopening the qualification debate. Especially away from home, where historically the Dutch are less formidable. Despite the turnover and the very delicate challenge for the Scudetto with Atalanta on the horizon, the Nerazzurri should win the second leg without any problems, and it’s not impossible that they’ll manage to keep a clean sheet as well.
INTER (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bisseck; Dumfries, Frattesi, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Carlos Augusto; Thuram, Taremi.
FEYENOORD (4-2-3-1): Wellenreuther; Read, Beelen, Hancko, Hugo Bueno; Moder, Smal; Hadj Moussa, Sliti, Ivanusec; Carranza.