Considering Inter have won 17 of the 18 UEFA competition ties in which they have triumphed away from home in the first leg, they look well placed to book a last-four date.
Inter Milan
Holding a handy two-goal aggregate lead coming into this UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg, Inter Milan have one foot in the semi-finals. However, a shock 1-0 home defeat to Monza at the weekend proved Inter are penetrable at the San Siro, so they will have to be on their guard to warn off Benfica’s advances and secure a first UEFA Champions League semi-final spot since 2010. Considering Inter have won 17 of the 18 UEFA competition ties in which they have triumphed away from home in the first leg, they look well placed to book a last-four date.
In fact, you’d have to go back to 2011 and a 5-2 defeat against Schalke for the last time Inter lost a UEFA Champions League home game by a margin big enough to see elimination in 90 minutes here, leaving Simone Inzaghi poised to become the first home-grown Italian coach to lead Inter to the semi-finals of Europe’s premier competition since Eugenio Bersellini in 1980/81.
Benfica
Benfica make the trip to Italy on the back of a shock 1-0 defeat of their own, going down against Chaves in Primeira Liga action to extend their losing run across all competitions to three matches. If recent form doesn’t offer much hope for Benfica, then the fact they have already won on Italian soil this season perhaps does as they beat Juventus 2-1 in group stage action. Joy has proved to be limited against their Italian counterparts, though, with that win against Juventus one of just four on Italian soil. They do appear well placed to improve upon that record here on the back of a nine-match unbeaten run in UEFA Champions League away games, but considering only one of those victories came by a margin big enough to avoid the torture of extra-time and penalties, Benfica’s slim hopes of progression may need more than the allotted 90 minutes.
Inter’s spot-kick king Romelu Lukaku has seen four of his last five goals come from the penalty spot, including the game’s final goal in the reverse. Benfica’s Rafa is enjoying a fruitful UEFA Champions League campaign and expect entertainment if he gets on the scoresheet again, with his last three UEFA Champions League scoring appearances witnessing at least six goals! None of Inter’s last six UEFA Champions League home games have seen both teams score.