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There is another game going on tonight, just in case you didn’t know.
Wait … there are two! Alas, all matches are not created equal.
Team news!
Internazionale: Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro Martinez, Thuram.
Subs: Di Gennaro, Josep Martinez, De Vrij, Arnautovic, Frattesi, Asllani, Carlos Augusto, Bisseck, Berenbruch, Cocchi, Zalewski, Taremi.
Inter are more or less as expected. Their only change from the starting XI in the first leg is Dimarco back in for Carlos Augusto.
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Urbig; Laimer, Kim, Dier, Stanisic; Goretzka, Kimmich; Olise, Muller, Sane; Kane.
Subs: Peretz, Klanac, Gnabry, Coman, Joao Palhinha, Guerreiro, Boey, Vidovic, Kusi-Asare, Pavlovic, Karl.
Fresh from his goal in the first leg and his assist at the weekend, Müller starts! The German equals Lionel Messi’s Champions League appearances (163) with the start tonight, only Iker Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo now have more.
Referee: Slavko Vincic
After Inter ended Bayern’s 22-match unbeaten home run in the first leg, Inter now hold the longest unbeaten home record (14 games) in the competition. That said, Bayern have won all four of their away games against Inter in European competition, including all three in the Champions League without conceding a single goal (2-0 in 2006, 1-0 in 2011 and 2-0 in 2022).
Inter will be wary of complacency, given they exited last-season’s Champions League in the round-of-16 to Atlético, despite taking a one-goal lead into the second leg.
The team news will be out in around 20 minutes, so let’s delve into a bit of pre-match reading.
Andy Brassell wrote this on Monday after Bayern’s 2-2 draw with Dortmund in Der Klassiker at the weekend. Not ideal preparation for this one, then, with Harry Kane particularly out of sorts.
Delving a bit further into the archives, we have this piece from Richard Hall on the late, great Andreas Brehme, who served both Inter and Bayern with distinction.
And speaking of legendary players that shone in both the red of Bayern and the black and blue of Inter, here’s my 2019 interview with Lothar Matthäus.
Preamble
In an age of steel and glass stadia, San Siro remains arguably the most iconic cathedral of football left on the continent. Internazionale and Bayern are fitting giants of Europe, nine European Cups between them. And while you might be tempted to check if Real Madrid have got the crucial, early goal to get Arsenal hearts a fluttering, the real action is here. This is a quarter-final on a knife-edge – Inter leading 2-1 from the first leg. Bayern – who won the Champions League final here in 2001 – are not likely to roll over.
These Champions League nights in Milan are special, just ask the locals. They go absolutely potty for the pre-match anthem around these parts and tonight will be no different. The winner of this tie will earn a semi-final with Barcelona. It really doesn’t get much bigger than this.
Here’s what Bayern manager, Vincent Kompany, had to say in the lead up to tonight.
There’s big anticipation for this game; it feels right. It’s the best team in Italy against the best team in Germany at the moment. The stadiums are also among the best there are. It doesn’t get much bigger than this. The quality and talent are there, too. The important thing is that we bring our best performance. Hopefully, we can experience a very special night for our fans, too.
Kick-off: 8pm BST
