Inter Milan vs Benfica

Inter Milan and Benfica are set to square off in the return leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, with ‘I Nerazzurri’ holding a 2-0 aggregate lead.

After a clear-cut first-leg victory in Lisbon, last season’s Serie A runners-up Inter Milan have one foot in the Champions League semi-finals, the stage they last reached in a triumphant 2009/10 campaign under Jose Mourinho. However, Simone Inzaghi’s men ill-afford to rest on their laurels after Serie A debutants Monza inflicted a third straight 1-0 home defeat on ‘I Nerazzurri’ over the weekend. On a more positive note, the Italians boast a 100% success ratio across nine previous two-legged UEFA ties in which they’ve won the first leg by a multi-goal margin. Furthermore, the first-leg triumph means they’re unbeaten in all four European encounters against Benfica (W3, D1).

On the other hand, visiting Benfica failed to recover from last week’s home upset as Primeira Liga minnows Chaves stunned them 1-0 at the weekend, blowing the title race wide open. It was, in fact, their third straight defeat in all competitions, following an eye-catching run of seven consecutive victories beforehand. Signs are ominous for the visitors, even though they already triumphed on Italian soil in this season’s Champions League group stages, courtesy of a 2-1 win at Juventus. Indeed, before that success, they had gone winless on six successive European visits to the country (D1, L5) in a run stretching back to 1997. But it’s not all lost for Roger Schmidt’s side yet, considering they’re unbeaten in their last seven away matches in the Champions League (W4, D3), setting an unprecedented feat in the club’s history.