Inter Milan vs Shakhtar Donetsk

Inter Milan will be looking to kick-start their 2021/22 Champions League campaign when they take on Shakhtar Donetsk at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

After succumbing to a shocking 2-0 defeat to Sheriff Tiraspol in their Group D curtain-raiser, Shakhtar can ill-afford to lose here if they are to keep their hopes of making it out of the group stage alive. Though they held Inter to a brace of goalless draws in their last season’s Champions League group fixtures, the Ukrainians have yet to beat this opposition in European competition (D3, L2). There’s another problem for Shakhtar here, as they’ve scored just once in their last five meetings with Inter, drawing a blank in each of the most recent three. Additionally, Roberto De Zerbi’s men have picked up just one win in their previous nine home outings in the Champions League (D4, L4), courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Real Madrid in last season’s group phase.

On the other hand, Inter Milan fell to a narrow 1-0 home loss to Real Madrid on Matchday 1 despite producing 18 shots on goal. ‘I Nerazzurri’ have since netted 2+ goals in three consecutive Serie A outings (W2, D1), averaging 3.66 goals per match in that sequence. They will be looking to get off the mark here, having avoided defeat in each of their six overall Champions League clashes against Ukrainian opposition (W2, D4). Worryingly, though, Simone Inzaghi’s side failed to win any of their three home fixtures in last season’s Champions League group stage (D2, L1), drawing a blank twice while conceding precisely two goals on two occasions too. By extension, the reigning Italian champions have claimed just three victories in their last 12 home games in the Champions League group phase (D5, L4).