Our next opponents: Inter yet to concede

Position

Inter Milan succeeded in securing victory in their last match in Serie A with a comfortable 3-1 win against newly promoted Parma at home on Friday night. The reigning Italian champions are set up for the Champions League clash with the Werkself. The Nerazzurri are currently third in the table three points behind leaders Atalanta having played one game less. Inter lived up to their role as favourites from the start in the 3-1 win against Parma on matchday 15. The team under coach Simone Inzaghi had almost 70% possession and clocked up several good chances before the first, technically impressive goal from Federico Dimarco (40'). In the second half, Nicolo Barella (55') and Marcus Thuram (67') put the team out of sight relatively quickly at the Giuseppe Meazza. Parma netted a consolation strike late on thanks to an own goal from Inter Milan defender Matteo Darmian (81'). Inter coach Inzaghi was full of praise for his team: "The lads were brilliant tonight as Parma are a really good team, particularly away, where they have only lost to Napoli. We knew we had to play well and we did that and I'm very satisfied."

Inzaghi can also be highly satisfied with the performance of his team in the Champions League. The team from the Lombardy capital are second in the table behind Liverpool. The stats so far: Four wins, one draw, 13 points, seven goals scored and none conceded. The Nerazzurri beat RB Leipzig 1-0 in their last game at the San Siro. The winner was unfortunate from a Leipzig perspective as Lukeba inadvertently diverted a shot from Federico Dimarco into his own net (40'). The hosts could have secured a more comfortable win. But Inter missed a large number of good chances in the second half.

The team including the former Leverkusen player Hakan Calhanoglu picked up two other 1-0 wins against Arsenal and away to Young Boys as well as a 4-0 victory against Red Star Belgrade. They started their European campaign with an impressive 0-0 draw away to the champions of England Manchester City. Inter Milan are now unbeaten in their last 13 games across all competitions. The last defeat was two and a half months ago. On 22 September, the 20-time Italian champions lost 2-1 in the derby against AC Milan.

PersonNEl

Simone Inzaghi, the former top striker with Lazio, was the successor to Antonio Conte at Inter in the summer of 2021. The club had just won the Italian league title under Conte. Inzaghi was unable to retain the title finishing second in his first season. The former Italy international lead his team to the Champions League final in his second year at the club for the first time since 2010 with Inter losing 1-0 to Manchester City in Istanbul. In addition to last season's league title, Inzaghi has won the Italian domestic cup competition twice and the national super cup three times in the last three years. The 48-year-old coach up has a well-oiled and very experienced squad. A number of players are well known from their time in the Bundesliga. In addition to Hakan Calhanoglu, who made 115 appearances for the Werkself between 2014 and 2017, the squad includes the goalkeeper Yann Sommer (Bayern Munich/Borussia Mönchengladbach), defenders Benjamin Pavard (FC Bayern) and Yann Bisseck (FC Köln), midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Borussia Dortmund) as well as the strikers Marko Arnautovic (Werder Bremen) and Marcus Thuram (Borussia Mönchengladbach). The latter is currently the top scorer at Inter with eleven goals. His strike partner Lautaro Martinez has scored six goals. Last season, the Argentinian World Cup winner and national teammate of Exequiel Palacios, was top scorer in Serie A with 24 goals.

Inzaghi plays three at the back, most recently made up of the Cologne-born Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni. Benjamin Pavard has been ruled out for several weeks due to a muscle injury. Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco are expected to start on the flanks. The main man in central midfield is Hakan Calhanoglu. The 30-year-old captain of Turkey is not just a specialist from set-pieces but also a top tackler. Recovering possession 8.7 times per game is the best return for an outfield player in the current competition.

Problems

With the exception of the convincing 4-0 win against Red Star Belgrade, the Nerazzurri have proved to be minimalists in the Champions League to date. Inter have only scored seven goals in their five games. Two of those were from the penalty spot. Thuram and Co. have secured narrow 1-0 wins three times. At the same time, there were no lack of goalscoring opportunities in those games. The team has proved to be weak in terms of converting chances. That does not apply to Serie A however. The Inzaghi team have the second most prolific attack, with 34 goals scored, behind league leaders Atalanta (38').

Performers

Inter are the only one of 36 teams yet to concede a goal in the league stage of the Champions League. That is not only down to their keeper Yann Sommer, who has now kept nine clean sheets for Inter in his last 12 Champions League games. Of course, it is also due to the whole defence. Sommer said after the 1-0 win against Leipzig: "We are always very focused and have yet to concede a goal against strong opponents like today's. It's great to keep a clean sheet but it was a team performance." Inter Milan's strength at the back is also a result of the team being incredibly confident on the ball with the ability to move it well. That also applies to the Werkself.