Inter Milan vs Feyenoord

Stadio San Siro sets the stage for the return leg of a one-sided Champions League last-16 tie between Inter Milan and Feyenoord.

Goals from Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram on either side of the halftime saw Inter secure a comfortable 2-0 win in Rotterdam last week before pulling off a sensation comeback to beat Monza 3-2 in Serie A despite trailing 2-0 in the first half. However, ‘I Nerazzurri’ should know better than to take this clash for granted, especially after bowing out to Atletico Madrid at this stage last season after taking the lead. Confidence remains high around Simone Inzaghi’s camp as the reigning Serie A holders take the field undefeated across their last 14 Champions League home outings (W12, D2). Additionally, Inter have won five consecutive home games in this competition without conceding, while they’ve kept as many as eight clean sheets from nine UCL matches this season!

Inter’s incredible defensive form in the Champions League significantly derails Feyenoord’s chances of turning this tie around, even though the Dutch FA granted them a weekend off to rest and prepare for this trip. Newly-appointed manager Robin Van Persie is still waiting for his first competitive win in charge of ‘De Stadionclub’ (D1, L1), with his charges drawing a blank on both occasions, including a disappointing 0-0 draw against Eredivisie minnows NEC Nijmegen on his touchline debut. Ending that wait at the San Siro looks like a tall order, considering none of Feyenoord’s last eight European visits to Italy has yielded victory (D3, L5). Furthermore, they’ve only claimed one multi-goal margin win across 26 Champions League away games!