Two 2023/24 league winners will lock horns in a crucial UEFA Champions League clash when Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan meet at BayArena on Tuesday.
The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League resumes this week with Matchday 6, with the latest round of fixtures starting with two early games. The action on Tuesday will conclude with seven simultaneous matches, including Bayer Leverkusen vs Inter Milan at BayArena.
Bayer Leverkusen would have hoped to continue from where they left off in the 2024/25 season. However, while the Bundesliga champions have shown some flashes of brilliance and won the DFL Supercup, they have blown hot and cold thus far this term.
Xabi Alonso’s men have lost a game each in the UEFA Champions League and the Bundesliga. However, despite those defeats, the German giants are in the automatic qualification berths in Europe while being in the top four in the league. So, the season carries plenty of promise for Bayer Leverkusen.
As for Inter Milan, a similar pattern to Bayer Leverkusen has ensued, although the Italian giants have been more consistent than their Bundesliga counterparts. Simone Inzaghi’s men are one of only three teams yet to lose a game in the UEFA Champions League, while no team has found the back of the net against the Nerazzurri.
With Liverpool the only team ahead of Inter Milan in the Champions League standings, a memorable 2024/25 campaign in Europe is on the cards. In addition, Inzaghi’s men are only three points behind the table-topping Atalanta, with a game in hand on La Dea.
Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan have previously locked horns thrice in Europe, with the Nerazzurri emerging victorious each time. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Bayer Leverkusen
Xabi Alonso does not have any new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Bayer Leverkusen manager will be bereft of the services of four first-team players vs Inter Milan on Tuesday.
Victor Boniface is the most notable absentee, with the Nigerian international recovering from a hip injury. The 23-year-old accompanies Jonas Hofmann (hip), Amine Adli (leg) and Patrick Schick (calf) on the sidelines.
Matej Kovar should get the nod over Lukas Hradecky between the sticks, with Bayer Leverkusen lining up in a 3-5-2 formation in front of him vs Inter Milan on Tuesday. The central defensive unit will feature Edmond Tapsoba, Jonathan Tah, and Piero Hincapie.
Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo pick themselves as the wing-backs, while there is no looking past Granit Xhaka, Robert Andrich, and Aleix Garcia as the central midfield trifecta. Finally, Florian Wirtz and Nathan Pella should be the two strikers for the home side.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Kovar; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Xhaka, Andrich, Garcia, Grimaldo; Wirtz, Tella
Inter Milan
Like his counterpart in the Bayer Leverkusen dugout, Simone Inzaghi does not have any new issues to worry about ahead of the trip to BayArena. The Inter Milan manager might be without three first-team players on Tuesday.
Benjamin Pavard (hamstring) and Francesco Acerbi (thigh) remain on the sidelines, although the latter is close to returning. In addition, Inzaghi is sweating over the fitness of Raffaele Di Gennaro, although he would not have started anyway.
Yann Sommer is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Inter Milan lining up in a 3-5-2 formation in front of him vs Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday. The central defensive unit should feature Yann Bisseck, Stefan de Vrij, and Alessandro Bastoni.
Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco should start as the wing-backs, with the duo providing width in the advanced areas. As for the midfield unit, Nicolo Barella will provide the creative impetus, with Hakan Calhanoglu and Piotr Zielinski holding the fort in the middle of the park. Finally, Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram should be the two strikers for the away side.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Sommer; Bisseck, de Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Zielinski, Dimarco; Thuram, Lautaro Martinez
Key Stats
- Bayer Leverkusen have lost all three of their games vs Inter Milan; the joint-most times they have faced a team in European competition while losing all of them (also 3/3 against Atalanta).
- Inter Milan have won their last four UEFA Champions League games without conceding a goal. The most recent Italian club to win five successive games and keep a clean sheet in each was Juventus in the 2012/13 campaign (5).
- Bayer Leverkusen have won seven of their last eight home games in European competition (D1), all since the start of last season. They have outscored their opponents by 21 goals across these eight matches (27 scored, six conceded) while having 138 more shots than they have let in, in the process (206 for, 68 against).
- Inter Milan could become the first team to keep a clean sheet in their first six matches of a UEFA Champions League campaign (0 conceded in five games this season). Simone Inzaghi’s men have conceded the lowest-quality chances in the tournament this term when factoring in the average xG of each shot a team has faced (0.07).
- Bayer Leverkusen have completed 84% of their passes attempted while under high-intensity pressure in the UEFA Champions League this season; the second-highest percentage in the tournament, only behind Manchester City (87.7%).
Player to Watch
Florian Wirtz
While Xabi Alonso needs Nathan Tella to step up in the absence of Victor Boniface and Patrik Schick, the in-demand Florian Wirtz is our Player to Watch for the midweek European fixture against Inter Milan.
Wirtz has opened the scoring in three games in the UEFA Champions League this season, the joint-most of any player (also three for Christian Pulisic). Only Stefan Beinlich in 1997/98 has opened the scoring more times for Bayer Leverkusen (4) in a single campaign in the competition. The German international will aim to add to his tally on Tuesday.
Prediction
Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Inter Milan
Bayer Leverkusen vs Inter Milan promises to be an intriguing affair, considering the building tension ahead of the game. Xabi Alonso needs his squad to step up and secure an automatic qualification berth. However, their next opponent has yet to concede a goal in the UEFA Champions League this season.
So, while an end-to-end game might be on the cards, the quality of chances flowing will be low. However, Florian Wirtz should end Inter Milan’s exceptional clean sheet record, with his goal likely earning Bayer Leverkusen a valuable point.