Soccer UEFA Champions League - Play-Off Prediction

Inter vs AC Milan - Match Preview

⚽ 16 May 2023 - 19:00 GMT +0

Three-time European Cup/UEFA Champions League (UCL) winners Inter Milan inched one step closer to a fourth crown with a 2-0 win over bitter rivals AC Milan in the first leg of this semi-final tie. A 4-2 Serie A (SA) victory over Sassuolo on Saturday was the perfect warm-up for the next Derby della Madonnina, a fixture in which Inter have recently excelled with ten wins from the last 15 meetings in all competitions (D2, L3).

With their ticket to Istanbul’s showpiece event almost booked, avoiding defeat here will be enough to see Inter advance to the first UCL final since 2009/10. After four clean sheets from their five 2022/23 UCL knockout games, a date with other semi-finalists, Real Madrid or Manchester City, appears imminent. The likelihood of Inter’s success is further reinforced by their formidable record in UEFA competition ties when winning the first leg as the designated away side (W18, L1).

Having been humbled in the first leg of this semi-final, things went from bad to worse for AC Milan, who were humiliated by relegation-battling Spezia in SA action at the weekend (L 2-0). That leaves Milan’s hopes of UCL qualification for next season via SA in tatters, meaning their best chance to join Europe’s elite next season could come by winning the competition this campaign.

Worryingly for their fans, Milan haven’t won a UCL knockout game as the designated away side since 2006/07 (D4, L6). It’s hard to find much hope here, but perhaps if they can battle valiantly and take the game beyond extra time, the Rossoneri could be inspired by their 83% success rate in UEFA competitions (W5, L1).

📋 Players to watch: He opened the scoring in the first leg, and Inter’s Edin Džeko has developed a knack for scoring against Milan, netting in three of their four H2H meetings this term. Perhaps Olivier Giroud could be AC Milan’s hero as, when excluding the injured Rafael Leão, he’s the only Milan player to score an H2H goal this season. Like the other ten of his 11 goals this term, it arrived after the 40th minute.

⚡ Hot streak: AC Milan’s last eight games in all competitions have produced exactly two total goals.