After kicking off their Champions League campaign with an impressive draw at Manchester City, Inter will be looking for their first win in the league stage when they take on Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday night.
Inter were excellent at the Etihad Stadium on matchday 1, although Simone Inzaghi left several key players out of his starting eleven.
They should have taken a second-half lead when Matteo Darmian raced in behind, but the Italian opted for a not-so-clever backheel instead of firing at goal. Ilkay Gundogan missed two late chances after Inter had stifled their hosts.
Although many consider the Nerazzurri to be the best team in Italy, the start to the new campaign has not been particularly convincing and they will have to work very hard to retain the crown this season.
Red Star Belgrade, meanwhile, were beaten at home by Benfica to start their league stage campaign. Once a major force in this competition, Red Star, like many Eastern European teams, have struggled for relevance on the biggest stage for the past 20 years.
However, they have enjoyed a strong start to the domestic season in Serbia, recently hammering bitter rivals Partizan 4-0 away from home.
here it is 90 minutes Tuesday preview Champions League match in Milan
Inter’s head-to-head record against Red Star Belgrade (all matches)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Inter |
Red Star Belgrade |
|---|---|
|
Udinese 2-3 Inter – 28/09/24 |
Red Star Belgrade 2-1 Železničar Pančevo – 27/09/24 |
|
Inter 1-2 Milan – 22/09/24 |
Partizan Belgrade 0-4 Red Star Belgrade – 23/09/24 |
|
Man City 0-0 Inter – 18/09/24 |
Red Star Belgrade 1-2 Benfica – 19/09/24 |
|
Monza 1-1 Inter – 15/09/24 |
Red Star Belgrade 2-0 Napredak – 14/09/24 |
|
Inter 4-0 Atalanta – 30/08/24 |
Radnicki 1923 0-1 Red Star Belgrade – 01/09/24 |
|
country |
TV channel/live broadcast |
|---|---|
|
united kingdom |
Discovery+, discovery+ app, TNT Sports 7 |
|
united states |
Paramount+, ViX |
|
canada |
DAZN |
Nicolo Barella missed Inter’s win over Udinese at the weekend with a thigh injury and the midfielder is expected to miss out again on Tuesday.
Inzaghi has options in reserve though, with Piotr Zielinski likely to start alongside Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu in Inter’s midfield three.
Otherwise, the hosts do not have many notable injury concerns. Canadian winger Tajon Buchanan remains sidelined with a ligament injury.
Expected line-up of Inter against Red Star Belgrade (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Zielinski, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Taremi, Martinez.
Ognjen Mimovic will miss the trip to Milan with a foot injury, while Vladimir Lucic is a long-term absentee with a knee problem.
Rade Krunic returns to his old stomping grounds after joining Red Star in the summer. The former Milan midfielder won the Scudetto with the Rossoneri in 2022 and made more than 100 Serie A appearances for Inter’s arch-rivals.
Expected line-up of Red Star Belgrade against Inter (4-2-3-1): Enamel; Seol, Djiga, Spajic, Rodic; Krunic, Elsnik; Silas, Ivanic, Milson; Ndiaye
There may be some early problems with this Inter team at the moment, but they have won nine of their previous 13 at home. Champions League matches and are far superior to their nearest rivals.
Lautaro Martínez got back on the scoresheet in Udine at the weekend, so he must be on a good run. The visitors are bound to get in Inter’s face and will at least try to make life difficult for the hosts, but it’s hard to imagine anything more than a relatively quiet Inter victory.
