Two of Europe’s most prolific teams meeting in Milan leads the way in a mouthwatering Champions League resumption this week, writes Andy Brassell.
“Only Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich have scored more across Europe’s top five leagues than Inter this season, despite the summer loss of Romelu Lukaku”
Liverpool and Inter set to entertain
There were few teams in December’s last 16 draw who did worse than Liverpool from the Champions League re-draw which followed the now-infamous first attempt at pairing the teams. Originally Jürgen Klopp’s team were tasked with Salzburg, a good side but one which has lost of raft of quality talent in the last two or three years, including Erling Haaland, Dominik Szoboszlai and Patson Daka.
In the Austrians’ place they take on an Inter side which – unusually for reigning domestic champions – have outstripped expectations this season, with the exits of Romelu Lukaku, Achraf Hakimi and coach Antonio Conte last summer suggesting they might slip back into the Serie A rank and file.
Conte’s replacement Simone Inzaghi has instead taken them onto new levels, and even if Inter needed an Edin Dzeko equaliser to take a draw from a tough top-of-the-table trip to Napoli on Saturday, they remain formidable.
Only Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich have scored more across Europe’s top five leagues this season, with Dzeko not exactly a like-for-like replacement for Lukaku but who has clicked brilliantly with Lautaro Martínez. There is depth in front of their excellent midfield too, as Alexis Sánchez’s magnificent strike to clinch the Coppa Italia quarter-final against Roma last week underlined.
There is the suggestion The Reds are catching Inter at a good time, with Inzaghi’s team coming into this on the back of derby defeat to Milan which reopened the title race, with a combination of the Napoli draw and the Rossoneri’s Sunday lunchtime win over Sampdoria taking Milan top.
Still, Inter have a game in hand and remain favourites, just as likely to nail successive Scudetti for the first time since the Mourinho era as they are to produce a spectacle fit for kings against Liverpool at San Siro.
Amorim with chance to measure himself against Pep
City’s status as Sporting are fresh out of a tempestuous clássico at Porto on Friday night, when they led 2-0 in the first half against the leaders before being held to a draw that keeps the champions six points off the summit. Such is the fallout from the mass brawl which followed the full-time whistle that Rúben Amorim and his players will be more than grateful for some respite from domestic matters.
They reinforced well in January, with skilful English winger Marcus Edwards joining from Vitória Guimarães and former legend Islam Slimani returning from Lyon, with the latter providing a physical challenge for the City defence as well as cover for Paulinho. Pedro Gonçalves, their de facto Bruno Fernandes replacement, offers their greatest goal threat at the head of their midfield.
The issue here is Amorim’s approach. After the 5-1 home hammering by Ajax in Sporting’s Champions League group stage opener, the coach was widely criticised at home for taking his same front-foot approach from the domestic game into the European arena. He stuck with it and, thanks to Borussia Dortmund’s difficulties, it paid off. Whether Amorim, one of the best young coaches on the continent, will – or should – do the same against Pep Guardiola is the big question ahead of this tie.
Pressure on Pochettino in Paris
On paper things couldn’t look much better for Paris Saint-Germain. They are cruising to victory in Ligue 1, 13 points clear, and one could even argue that the probable absence of Neymar isn’t the end of the world for Mauricio Pochettino – his side always keep better shape with a Kylian Mbappé-plus-one formula, rather than with the full Mbappé-Neymar-Lionel Messi triumvirate, at least without the ball.
Yet Paris is far from a happy camp, with an uneasy atmosphere in Friday night’s narrow win over Rennes seeing supporters taking aim at the players and sporting director Leonardo for an uninspiring brand of football so far this season.
Speculation has increased in France that Mauricio Pochettino’s whole future rests on this tie – with former PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti having created a genuine unit at Real Madrid. La Liga’s leaders are hard to break down, though they have been less potent in the final third as Karim Benzema has nursed a hamstring injury in recent weeks.
Source: BetFair Tips
