Thirteen-time Champions League winners Real Madrid travel to San Siro

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Thirteen-time Champions League winners Real Madrid travel to the San Siro on Wednesday evening for their opening Group D clash against Serie A champions Inter Milan. This is the second consecutive campaign in which these two European giants, along with Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk, have been drawn in the same group of the competition; Los Blancos beat the Nerazzurri home and away last season, including a 2-0 victory in Milan.

Inter Milan’s unbeaten start to their Serie A title defence (W2, D1) is their preparation for meeting Real Madrid in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) for the second consecutive season. They’ll be keen to exact revenge after losing both fixtures last term, including defeat in a home H2H for the first time in a long-established European rivalry (W7, D2, L8 – all venues).

Since that setback, Simone Inzaghi’s side has lost just one competitive match here (W17, D1), which must give the ‘Nerazzurri’ hope of avoiding a repeat of last season, and could evoke memories of 1964 when they beat Madrid 3-1 to win the first of their three European Cup/UCL titles. They completed a hat-trick of a different sort last term though, failing to reach the UCL knockout stages for a third consecutive season.

Both sides are expected to get through Group D, and Madrid should entertain as they’ve been scoring for fun in La Liga this term (W3, D1, GD +7), marking their return to the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday with a 5-2 win over Celta Vigo. This is also a homecoming of sorts for ex-AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti, who knows what it takes to win against Inter (W16, D5, L11).

That experience could prove useful as ‘Los Blancos’ have been inconsistent in recent UCL away games with their last seven such matches producing a different outcome to the one before (W2, D2, L3). However they have won their last six UCL fixtures in Italy, the last four ‘to nil’, so could begin their UCL trophy push with victory.

Date: 15/09/2021
Time: 22:00
Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro) (Milan)
Pick for this match:
“2” – @ 2.55 ( BETWAY )