Inter Milan have to regroup quickly following their 2-1 defeat in the Milan Derby at the weekend. The enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 7th and 8th Milan Derby goals against his former employers to end Inter’s unbeaten start to the season.
Now Inter Milan’s attention turns to the Champions League and their first game in Group B against Borussia Monchengladbach. The Italians will be looking to get off to a strong start in a group that contains Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk and need to make the most of their home games.
Inter have won this competition three times before, most recently in 2009/10 under the guidance of Jose Mourinho. This season, both teams have scored in each of Inter Milan’s four matches, and over 2.5 goals have been scored in three of those games.
Last season, Inter failed to progress from Group F, which consisted of Barcelona, Dortmund, and Slavia Prague. The Italians did win at home against the Germans though, and both teams scored in five of Inter’s six group games.
Borussia Monchengladbach, or Gladbach for short, have made a slow start to the 2020/21 campaign. The Germans sit 11th in the Bundesliga table after four games and are yet to win at home. Both teams have scored in each of the clubs last three matches, and over 2.5 goals have been produced in two of their four outings in the Bundesliga.
Last time out, Gladbach were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Wolfsburg and their first away game of the season saw them thrashed 3-0 by Dortmund. Gladbach have never won this competition before but did reach the final in 1976/77, losing to English side Liverpool.
Last season, Gladbach were disappointing in Europe, finishing 3rd in a group made up of Roma, Basaksehir and Wolfsberger. Four of Gladbach’s matches in Group J saw both teams score and three produced over 2.5 goals.
The hosts could be without the services of Ashley Young, Ionut Radu, Milan Skriniar, Roberto Gagliardini, Radja Nainggolan, and Matias Vecino due to injury and illness. The visitors also have injury concerns ahead of the trip to Italy as Julio Villalba, Louis Beyer, Valentino Lazaro, Laszio Benes, and Denis Zakaria are all considered doubtful to feature.
With all of the above in mind, Forebet believes that Inter Milan have the experience and quality to win this game.