Everything you need to know about Inter Milan | Feature

We return to Champions League action on Wednesday with a visit to one of the most famous clubs and stadiums in European football when we take on Inter Milan at the San Siro.

Incredibly, it will be only the third competitive meeting between the teams as we face arguably the biggest challenge of the league stage with a tough trip to the home of the reigning Italian champions.

Ahead of the game, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about our opponents past and present before we kick off Milan:

History

Football Club Internazionale was founded in March 1908 by a group of players who left the cricket and football club Milan (now AC Milan) because they wanted to accept more foreigners – hence the club’s name which derives from international. They were immediately promoted to Serie A and have remained there ever since – the only club to boast that honour.

The first of their 20 league titles came in just their second season and they enjoyed much success in the 1930s, led by the goals of all-time top scorer Giuseppe Meazza, after whom the San Siro is named. A golden period arrived in the 1960s when they won three Serie A titles in four years and back-to-back European and Intercontinental Cups.

However, in the final 30 years of the 20th century they would only manage three league titles and two Coppa Italias, and in 1993/94 they avoided relegation by a single point but still won one of the three Cups UEFA in the decade. Their fortunes and five consecutive titles were won between 2006 and 2010, culminating in becoming the first Italian team to win the Treble under Jose Mourinho.

His departure brought a decade of decline that saw them go six seasons without Champions League football, but Antonio Conte helped re-establish them as one of the country’s premier sides, winning the title in 2021 before a 20- lea to be added in the last mandate.

stadium

One of the most iconic stadiums in world football, San Siro was opened in 1926 when Inter defeated hosts AC Milan 6-3. They have shared the stadium since 1947 and before the 1990 World Cup, the famous spiral towers and red roof were added to bring the capacity up to the current total of 80,000.

As well as those World Cup finals, it has also hosted matches from the 1934 edition, Euro 1980 and four European Cup/Champions League finals, the last being in 2016. It will also host the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, but speculation continue. to spin their futures after both Milan clubs revealed plans to build a new stadium on the outskirts of the city.

The manager

Simone Inzaghi has been Inter boss since June 2021. He has enjoyed a notable playing career which has seen him star for Lazio for 11 years, winning a Serie A title, three Coppa Italias and a UEFA Super Cup and winning three caps for his country sa, including partnership. his brother, AC Milan legend Filippo, in attack.

Simone started coaching Lazio’s youth teams in 2010 and was given the manager’s job six years later. He won a Coppa Italia, two Supercoppa and guided them back into the Champions League before replacing Conte at Inter, where the cup success continued. He came close to winning Europe’s biggest prize but saw his side beaten by Manchester City in the 2023 final, however Inter bounced back to win their 20th Serie A title last season.

Last season

After finishing second and third in their first two seasons, Inzaghi’s side finished top in 2023/24 to add a second Scudetto star to their shirt, becoming only the second Italian team to win 20 titles, behind Juventus .

It was a dominant campaign, with Inter winning 18 out of 20 games between October and March to put everyone behind them, and clinched the title with five games to go, beating AC Milan 2-1 at the San Siro, finally finishing. 17 points ahead of second place.

They have scored the most goals in Serie A, with Lautaro Martinez bagging 24 of them, while also boasting the stingiest defence. The Supercoppa was won 1-0 against Napoli, but an early Coppa Italia exit to Bologna was followed by a Champions League last 16 exit on penalties to Atletico Madrid.

Team

Martinez has been Inter’s main goal threat since arriving in 2018 and recently scored his 134th goal for the club to become the all-time top foreign goalscorer. He captains a squad that also includes French international striker Marcus Thuram and Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu, who both contributed double figures in league goals last season.

No club received more Euro 2024 call-ups last summer than Inter’s 13, including Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer, France’s Benjamin Pavard, Dutch defensive duo Stefan de Vrij and Denzel Dumfries and five Italian representatives – full-backs Federico Dimarco and Matteo Darmian. , centre-back Alessandro Bastoni and midfielders Nicolo Barella and Davide Frattesi.

Francesco Acerbi won Euro 2020 with the Azzurri, while former Gunner Henrikh Mkhitaryan (above) he has been a regular in Inzaghi’s team for the past two seasons. Marko Arnautovic will also be a familiar face from his previous spells in the Premier League, with Polish great Piotr Zielinski joining from Napoli in the summer.

The season so far

The reigning champions have initially struggled this season, winning just two of their opening five Serie A matches, including a 2-1 defeat at their neighbours, marking their first derby day defeat in their last six meetings.

However, they recovered from that setback by winning five of their last six league games and sharing a 4-4 draw with Juventus. A 1-0 win at Venezia on Sunday moved them within a point of league leaders Napoli.

In the Champions League, they started the league stage with a goalless draw at Manchester City before beating Red Star Belgrade 4-0. However, they needed a strike in stoppage time from this season’s top scorer Thuram (above) to beat Young Boys in Switzerland to join us on seven points from our first three games.

History

This will be the first time we face the Nerazzurri since one of the greatest European nights of all time when we won 5-1 at the San Siro in the 2003/04 group stage, avenging a 3-0 defeat at Highbury in the first – the ever meeting of the parties in September 2003.

But two months later, Thierry Henry put us in front before Christian Vieri’s deflected effort drew the hosts level. After the restart, Freddie Ljungberg put us back in front before some solo magic from Henry made it 3-1 and late strikes from Edu and Robert Pires sealed a historic victory.