In perhaps the pick of this year’s last-16 ties, Inter Milan meet Atletico Madrid, with the first leg of their Champions League clash taking place at San Siro on today.
Last season’s runners-up, Inter are flying high at the top of Serie A; meanwhile, Atleti stormed through the group stage to reach the knockout rounds once again.
Having started 2024 with eight wins on the spin, Inter can consider themselves in peak form ahead of their return to the Champions League, in which they have proven to be one of Europe’s elite teams over the past two seasons.
The Nerazzurri have lost just one of their last 13 games in UEFA’s top club competition – that lone defeat coming against Manchester City in the 2023 final – while keeping no fewer than eight clean sheets in the process.
Since finishing second in Group D, just behind Real Sociedad, Simone Inzaghi’s side have suffered only one significant setback – dramatically losing in extra time to Bologna in the Coppa Italia – and the New Year has seen them reach new heights.
Inter swept to a third successive Supercoppa Italiana by beating both Lazio and Napoli, before victory in the Derby d’Italia helped keep title challengers Juventus in the rearview mirror; scoring four times in their last two outings then capitalised on Juve’s faltering form.
Nine points clear atop Serie A following Friday’s 4-0 defeat of rock-bottom Salernitana – which saw captain and top scorer Lautaro Martinez add further to his impressive goal tally – the Milan giants are also among the favourites to reach June’s Champions League finale at Wembley.
However, their first knockout meeting with a Spanish side since the 2010 semi-finals – when Jose Mourinho’s men eliminated Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona en route to an unforgettable treble triumph – comes against opponents that always pose a threat, partly thanks to the wily coaching of an ex-Inter midfielder.
Under Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid have won five of six previous knockout matches against Italian clubs in continental competition, and the Spanish side now seek their sixth at San Siro, where they have yet to take on Inter.
The teams’ only competitive meeting was in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup, won by Los Colchoneros thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero and the late Jose Antonio Reyes, but now another heavyweight contest awaits.
While Atleti trail behind city rivals Real Madrid in La Liga, where they occupy fourth place, Simeone’s side blitzed their way through Group E during the autumn – scoring 17 Champions League goals this season is already their best tally for a decade.
Alvaro Morata notched five in six games – the most by a Spanish player since Atletico’s run to the final in 2014 – as Lazio, Feyenoord and Celtic were swept aside in an unbeaten group-stage campaign; however, they have been bedevilled by inconsistent form since.
