Madrid hold the advantage and for them, a draw will be enough, while Inter must win if they’re to overtake the 13-time European champions.
Real Madrid
Both Real Madrid and Inter Milan have qualified for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 but at stake in this matchday, six Group D clash is who tops the group, thereby qualifying with seeded status and earning the right to host the second leg. Madrid hold the advantage and for them, a draw will be enough, while Inter must win if they’re to overtake the 13-time European champions. That will take some doing as Real are on an 11-match unbeaten run including winning their last four home competitive matches by a one-goal margin.
However, they did lose to Sheriff Tiraspol here by the same margin on UEFA Champions League matchday two, so another tight contest could be on the cards with goals likely as ‘Los Blancos’ – just two short of their 600th UEFA Champions League strike in the competition proper – have scored in their last 13 home UEFA Champions League matches.
Inter
Coincidentally, Inter have played 13 matches since they last drew a blank following their 3-0 demolition of Roma on Saturday. Having now kept four consecutive clean sheets, if any defence can hold Madrid’s attack at bay, it could be Inter’s as they seek to redress the balance in this long-standing European rivalry. Defeat here in last season’s group stage remains Inter’s only UCL away loss in six outings, and if they’re to avenge that 3-2 H2H defeat they might strike late, as seven (64 per cent) of their goals scored during that sequence came after the 65th minute.
Madrid’s Vinicius Junior might be a man to watch as he’s scored second-half goals in three of his side’s last five fixtures, particularly if Hakan Calhanoglu, who’s netted the opener in each of Inter’s last three away matches, does so again. Inter haven’t won a matchday six UEFA Champions League group stage game since December 2009 – the same season that they last went on to win the UEFA Champions League!