Inter Milan vs Atlético Madrid. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

Inter Milan will host Atlético de Madrid in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 match at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium. The fixture will take place on Wednesday, February 21, beginning at 01:30 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Inter Milan News & Current Form: 

Immediately after the Champions League 1/8 final draw, most fans had their eyes on the pairing of Inter and Atletico for several reasons. The teams are among the leaders of their championships, the Milanese are leading almost from the very first round. 

Coaches Simone Inzaghi and Diego Simeone once spent several successful seasons together at SS Lazio, and there is still a friendly relationship between the two, and one of them will have to give in. Finally, both could be called promising coaches of the new generation, but have already proved a lot to everyone with their results, and there is no need to talk about prospects. 

But rather, they are elite level coaches who are trying to make their teams better. Inzaghi has a much shorter tenure with Inter than Simeone did with Atletico, but in his third year he has been able to build a very strong team that is interesting to see play a similar team from outside of Italy.

The Nerazzurri managed to finish the group stage of the Champions League without a single defeat for the first time since the 2004/05 season, then the team reached the quarterfinals. Despite the absence of lost matches, Inter took the second position in the quartet, losing on additional indicators to Real Sociedad. The Spanish team took first place, but thanks to the draw will have to face PSG. 

In the Italian championship Inzaghi’s wards are confidently leading, being 11 points ahead of Juventus FC. Local sports media have already estimated that the Blue and Blacks will clinch the Scudetto in the 33rd round after the derby with Milan. But given the regular misfires of the Old Lady, the team can get the title even earlier.

No matter how much Inter’s management claim that their goal is to win in all tournaments, the main task is to win the Italian championship, which will allow them to become the owners of the twentieth title and the second star above the emblem. Therefore, in the previous match against the main outsider US Salernitana 1919 Simone Inzaghi put on the field the main squad, which after the first half removed all questions about the winner. 

Coach of Inter Milan FC – Simone Inzaghi

Now the club from Milan is on an 18-match unbeaten streak, having secured 15 victories during this period, and in 6 of them they kept their gates intact. Also in January, the team once again won the Supercoppa Italiana, which was held in a new format as a four-team mini-tournament. They defeated Lazio 3:0 in the semifinals and minimally defeated SSC Napoli 1:0 in the final. 

Inter have personnel losses before the match against Atletico – the main center back Francesco Acerbi will not play due to injury. Juan Cuadrado and Stefano Sensi are also in the infirmary, but they are rotation players.

Alexis Sanchez and Lautaro Martinez are the most productive players in the Champions League with two goals. The latter is the top scorer in Serie A with 20 goals.

Atlético Madrid News & Current Form: 

The competition for the top spot in La Liga is currently more intense than in Serie A. Real Madrid CF are five points clear of Girona FC, but they are still far from an actual title. FC Barcelona and Atletico are already behind decently, by 10 and 13 points, respectively. 

Before Atletico, as well as Inter in every tournament are the maximum objectives. But in the first round of the championship Simeone’s team made a lot of mistakes, and lately they haven’t shown a stable game.

Sometimes it seems that Los Colchoneros need a strong irritant. If there is a game with Real Madrid, they show their best. As a result, they managed to knock their fellow countrymen out of the Copa del Rey and take away five points in the championship in head-to-head matches. There was a defeat in the Supercopa de Espana, but to win every match to order, especially at Real Madrid does not work out for anyone. 

If you look at the matches after the derby, first Atletico lost on their field in the first semifinal match of the Spanish Cup to Athletic Bilbao (0:1), and then lost away to Sevilla FC (0:1). In this match, Madrid had a total of 30 shots on goal and completely owned the initiative.

Last Saturday, Simeone’s wards defeated UD Las Palmas (5:0). This success allowed the Spanish club to break a three-game winless streak, during which it lost twice and drew once.

Top scorer of Atletico de Madrid Alvaro Morata is set to miss the upcoming clash with Inter Milan because of an injury

Milan played in the last round with the main squad, but Atletico’s coach gave a day off to their leader Antoine Griezmann, around whom the team’s game is largely based.

As for the Champions League, Diego Simeone’s team entered the playoffs from the quartet E, in which in addition to them were also Italian Lazio, Dutch Feyenoord and Scottish Celtic FC. Atletico failed to beat the Eagles of Rome in the first round (1:1), but then gave away 4 wins in the rest of the group stage meetings and eventually took the first place with 14 points. Madrid were the second best team in the group stage (17) after Manchester City (18).

Atletico also have serious losses in the squad – due to a knee injury, the team’s top scorer Alvaro Morata (13) will not play at the Giuseppe Meazza. César Azpilicueta, Vitolo, Gabriel Paulista and Thomas  Lemar are also undergoing treatment and rehabilitation, but their absence is not critical.

Inter Milan form guide: W-W-W-W-W-W

Atlético Madrid form guide: W-W-D-L-L-W

Inter Milan vs Atlético Madrid Head-To-Head Record:

• August 27, 2010: Inter Milan 0 – 2 Atletico Madrid (Super Cup);
• August 11, 2018: Atletico Madrid 0 – 1 Inter Milan (International Champions Cup).

Inter Milan vs Atlético Madrid Predicted XI:

Inter Milan’s possible starting lineup (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Martinez.

Atlético Madrid’s possible starting lineup (3-5-2): Oblak; Savic, Witsel, Hermoso; Llorente, Barrios, De Paul, Koke, Lino; Griezmann, Depay.

Statistical preview of the match Inter Milan vs Atlético Madrid:

• Inter’s First XI average age is 30.0 years, Atletico’s First XI average age is 29.7 years.
• The total value of Inter’s squad is 588 mln euros, while the total of Atletico comes up to 454 mln euros.
• Istvan Kovacs has been appointed as the center referee. The referee has already served 9 games this season, showing an average of 4 Yellow Cards and also whistles 23 fouls per game. 
• Inter have won the European Cup three times in their history, most recently in 2010.
• In Serie A, Inter conceded 12 goals, the best figure in all the top-5 European championships
• Inter’s winning streak in all tournaments is 8 matches, the team has not lost 10 matches in a row.
• Atletico have reached the Champions League final three times in their history, twice under Diego Simeone, but have yet to win the trophy.
• Atletico scored 17 times in the group stage of the Champions League. Only Manchester City have scored more goals (18).

What has been said before the match:

Simone Inzaghi about the title race and upcoming opponent in UCL clash:

“The title race? We’ve done really well up to now and are keeping up a great rhythm. We know there’s still a long way to go and that we’ll need to be up for a lot of games in quick succession. We won our first trophy of the season but we need to keep going, knowing that there will be hurdles along the way and we need to be the ones to make the difference by keeping our concentration.”

“It’ll be a pleasure to come up against Diego; he was a fantastic teammate. We won trophies together at Lazio before he returned to Spain, but we stayed in touch. You could see that he’d become a fantastic coach. He’s been in charge of Atletico for 13 years and leaves his mark on his teams. It’s been a pleasure watching Atletico play this season.”

“Atletico have great players with a lot of experience: it’ll be a great showdown between two teams that want to dominate matches and play good football. In the last two years, we’ve seen how certain incidents can be decisive, as was the case against Liverpool and Manchester City. A quarter-final spot is up for grabs.”

“There’s always room for improvement. We analyze every match with the lads and draw up ideas. Beyond victories, you need to evaluate things attentively and in the right way, thus gaining important insights.”

Inter Milan vs Atlético Madrid Prediction:

It’s striking that these teams have never met in European competitions before in their history. They crossed paths only once in the European Super Cup in 2010, when Inter won the Champions League and Atletico claimed the Europa League. The duel between old friends Inzaghi and Simeone promises to be a genuine intellectual battle in which strategy and tactical prowess will pay a decisive role. The clubs possess well-defined playing principles, which they also often tend to adjust to their opponents.

Both teams went through the group stage unbeaten, although the Milanese had more powerful opponents. And Inter lost the 1st place in the quartet to San Sebastian only on the basis of additional indicators. The hosts are both stable and potent this season, having already won the Italian Super Cup, while also leading in the quest for the Scudetto (9 points edge over 2nd-placed Juventus). In the previous UCL campaign, Inter reached the final, where they lost 0-1 to Manchester City in an evenly contested battle.

Madrid cannot boast such achievements in recent times. And at the current stretch of the season they seem to be in turbulent state: before the victory in the last round of La Liga over modest Las Palmas (5:0), the Mattress Makers were winless for 3 encounters in the championship and the Spanish Cup (1 draw, 2 defeats), only netting 1 goal during that time. With 11 points behind 1st place in Primera División, it will be reasonable for the Indians to prioritize the mission of winning the UCL. Diego Simeone and his boys know how to get their act together in matches against high profile opponents where the pressure rather plays into their hands. It is unlikely that a coach with such a wealth of experience will come to play at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium from a position of strength, understanding the current balance of power. The visitors will opt to play second fiddle in order to contain their opponents, and will settle for a draw so that they can decide the fate of progression to the next stage at the Wanda Metropolitano with the support of their fans in the return leg. At home, the Indians have 12 wins and 1 draw in 13 La Liga matches played.

Atletico Madrid have a disciplined and coherent defense and are renowned for their aggressive pressing, while Inter are great at organizing attacks and counter-attacking effectively. We don’t expect a goal fiesta here – adding to the aforementioned setting the fact that Inter boast the best defense in Serie A, and possibly in all of Europe: they concede just 0.5 goals per match on average. Meanwhile, their attack, with Lautaro Martínez and Marcus Thuram at the forefront, are shooting on target 5 times per match, averaging 2.5 goals. It’s not for nothing that Simeone specifically mentioned the reliability of Jann Sommer before the game, a lot will depend on his performance. At the same time, the hosts are unlikely to score more than two goals against Jan Oblak: the Spaniards concede just 1 goal on average. In the 1st leg, the coaches will try to minimize the risks, but that doesn’t mean that the confrontation between the two former Lazio partners won’t be entertaining. We believe that Athletico Madrid will be unable to break the winning streak of Nerazzurri. 

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Inter Milan will not lose and the match total will be less than 3.5 – Yes.

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