Atletico Madrid vs Internazionale Preview

Inter Milan will travel to the Wanda Metropolitano this Wednesday to face Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie.

Atlético Madrid come into this second leg needing a big performance to overcome a one-goal deficit after they lost the first leg 1-0 at the San Siro two weeks ago. That meeting in Milan was their ninth appearance in the UCL knockout round in eleven seasons and they will need a better performance at home to make it to the quarter-final of this season’s edition.

However, form isn’t on the side of Diego Simeone’s men to achieve that target with five defeats from their last eight competitive games (W2, D1), including a 2-0 loss to relegation-threatened Cádiz in La Liga last weekend.

Despite this, Los Colchoneros should take confidence from the fact the Metropolitano Stadium has been a near-fortress for them in recent times. The hosts have lost just once at this venue across 20 competitive games this season (W18, D1), including three wins in the group stage of this competition.

Moreso, the last two of those UCL home wins came by a 2+ goal margin, something that would secure Atlético’s progression here. But the Madrid-based club will have their work cut out against an Inter side who have progressed from 42 of the 46 previous UEFA knockout ties in which they won the first leg at home. That included a win over Porto at this stage last season when they followed a 1-0 first-leg home win with a goalless draw.

Simon Inzaghi’s side also travel to Madrid in form with the Nerazzurri currently on a run of 13 straight wins in all competitions which has also handed them a formidable 16-point lead at the top of the Serie A standings. Also boosting their chances of a second-straight UCL quarter-final appearance is Inter’s recent record of six consecutive away wins, four of which came with a clean sheet.

The only chink in their armour is their propensity to start slowly on the road in European competition as they needed late goals beyond the 70th minute to salvage a draw in two of their last three UCL away games (W1, D2) after conceding first.