Real Madrid and Inter Milan will go against each other at the Santiago Bernabeu in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, with the first position in Group D on offer for both sides. Los Blancos are currently top of the group, two points clear of second-placed Inter, with both teams already advancing to the knockout stage of the competition.
Real Madrid made it eight straight wins in all competitions on Saturday, as they recorded a 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad in La Liga, with the result moving them eight points clear at the top of the table. Los Blancos sit at the top of Group D with 12 points from their five matches and would claim the first position in the group if they avoid defeat on Tuesday. A loss would see them drop down to second and potentially hand them a more difficult tie in the last-16 stage of the competition.
Real Madrid have the second most number of shots on target in the league and have scored 12 goals so far in five games. They have the most number of shots on goal and have been very effective inside the final third. They have attempted 7.22 shots on target per 90 minutes and are one of the best teams in the tournament while attacking. But Real suffered a huge blow on Saturday when Karim Benzema came off at half-time due to an injury.
The above visual shows us the shot map for Real Madrid from their Champions League clash against Sheriff. The Los Blancos earned an easy victory as they beat Sheriff 3-0. Their shot map indicates they had a total of 17 efforts on goal and managed to keep six of them on target. They will try to replicate a similar performance against Inter to get the top spot in Group D.
Inter, meanwhile, come with an excellent winning run into Tuesday’s contest, having been victorious in each of their last five games in all competitions, including a 3-0 success at Roma in Serie A on Saturday. The Italian champions are now second in Serie A, just one point behind AC Milan, while their 2-0 home success over Shakhtar in gameweek four allowed them to book their spot in the last-16 stage of the Champions League.
Inter Milan have scored eight goals in five games and have one of the best xG values in the tournament. They have an overall xG of 12.74 and have average an xG of 2.44 per 90 minutes. Inter also have the highest number of shots on goal in the competition, and have hit the target 34 times from their 95 efforts.
The above visual shows us the shot map for Inter Milan from their Champions League clash against Shakhtar. The viz indicates that most of Inter’s shots were from inside the penalty area, which explains why they always have such a high xG. Inter have the most number of shots on goal from inside the box and have generated a high xG in most of their games. Real Madrid have been a very tight defensive unit recently and will make the Inter attackers work hard to find a breakthrough.
Both sides will make changes to their team as they have important fixtures coming up in domestic tournaments. Ancelotti will make changes from the side that started against Real Sociedad, but Los Blancos should still be strong enough to hold the Italian champions to at least secure a point.
Real Madrid predicted starting lineup:
Courtois, Vazquez, Militao, Alaba, Mendy, Valverde, Camavinga, Kroos, Vinicius, Jovic, Asensio.
Inter Milan predicted starting lineup:
Handanovic, D’Ambrosio, Skriniar, Bastoni, Dumfries, Barella, Sensi, Vidal, Perisic, Dzeko, Martin.
