Inter Milan vs Juventus
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza forms the backdrop for the 180th Serie A edition of the famous Derby d’Italia as Inter Milan and Juventus go head-to-head in a mouth-watering league fixture.
Despite losing twice in their last three Serie A outings (W1), including an abysmal 2-1 defeat at Spezia in the previous round, Inter Milan start this round in second, three points clear of fifth-placed Roma. A scoreless draw at Porto in midweek Champions League action helped ‘I Nerazzuri’ reach the quarter-finals for the first time in over a decade, bolstering the spirits in the home camp ahead of this mammoth contest. After going down 2-0 in the reverse fixture in Turin, Simone Inzaghi’s men could lose both seasonal Serie A meetings with Juventus for the first time since 2019/20. But they can find some courage in their impressive home league record this season (W11, L2) and the fact they’ve won three successive such match-ups in the build-up to this encounter, including the last two by a two-goal margin.
On the other hand, Juventus progressed into the Europa League quarter-finals following a 2-0 second-leg win at Freiburg, making it three consecutive triumphs in all competitions. Massimiliano Allegri’s side would begin this round as genuine top-four candidates if it wasn’t for January’s 15-point deduction, yet a ten-point deficit on fourth-placed AC Milan means they’ll likely have to seek Champions League qualification through the Europa League. ‘I Bianconeri’ slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Roma on their most recent Serie A travel after winning back-to-back away league matches by 2+ goals ‘to nil.’ However, it’s worth noting that the record-time Italian champions haven’t lost an away Serie A clash against Inter in the second half of the season since 2010.