It could have been guessed immediately after the draw in December last year, but now it can be stated with certainty that Inter and Atletico Madrid make up the most intriguing pair of Champions League Round of 16.
"The Nerazzurri" play spectacular football and are convincingly first in Serie A, the "Kolćoneros" are not doing so well in the table in La Liga (they are in fourth place), but in the Diego Simeone era they have not played more smoothly than this year. So Atlético is now playing on goal more, which was unthinkable until a few seasons ago...
That's why Atlético is more vulnerable than before, but it has enough class to be able to properly oppose the current vice-champion of Europe led by Simone Inzaghi.
Tonight's clash at the "Giuseppe Meaca" will be only the second between Inter and Atlético in European competitions. The first one went to the Spanish team and was played in August 2010 in the European Super Cup (2:0), a few months after Simeone won the Europa League, and the Milan giant under the command of Jose Mourinho completed the historic "triple"...
TANDEM INZAGI-ĆOLO AND A SAD DAY FOR INTER
Simeone played for Inter (he won the UEFA Cup in 1998), and he and Inzaghi are united by the period they spent together in Lazio. They are also bound by the fact that they directly influenced Inter to lose the Scudetto in 2002. The famous 5th of May and the duel at "Olimpic" happened to the "Black and Blue" when the victory was enough for them to win the title for the first time in 13 years.
Everything was ready for a big celebration, the guests led 2:1 with Ronaldo, Cristian Vieri, Alvaro Recoba and Javier Zanetti, and Lazio won 4:2 in the end. Simeone scored a goal for 3:2, and Inzaghi set the final score and "gave" the title to Juventus.
- Ćolo is a great coach, my friend and former teammate, and Atlético is a great team that knows what it's doing at every moment - Inzaghi said.
Inter and Atletico made a great introduction to their duel. Salernitana "suffered" in the City of Fashion and lost 4:0, while the Madrid team was convincing at home against Las Palmas - 5:0.
In the second half of that duel, Inzaghi took the biggest stars out of the game, while Simeone rested Antoine Griezmann, the best scorer in the club's history, who is playing in the shape of his life.
SAVIĆ IN THE STARTING LINE-UP?
Inter played in the group against the Spanish team - they drew twice with Sociedad (the Basques were first in the group), and Atlético was ahead of the Italian team - Lazio. In Rome, Simeone was robbed of a point by goalkeeper Ivan Provedel, the scorer in stoppage time for 1:1, while there was no dilemma at "Metropolitan" (2:0).
- Inter is a very strong team that believes in what it is doing and that runs a lot when defending and when attacking. We must not forget that Inter has only one defeat this season and that last season they played in the final of the Champions League - said Simeone.
On the Uefa website, Montenegrin national team member Stefan Savić is in the starting line-up, and Alvaro Morata will not be in the team due to injury. Inter, on the other hand, is missing Franćesko Aćerba.
PSV - Borussia: "Middle class" promises a spectacle
PSV and Borussia are playing tonight, also at 21 p.m. A very interesting double match is expected between teams that have a clear attacking idea, and "Philips" want to push on the European stage as they easily control things in the Netherlands - they won 62 out of a possible 66 points in the Eredivisie this season.
- Borussia can threaten us from the counterattack, but I believe that they will have the basic idea to try to ask themselves in this game. We want the same - said PSV coach Peter Boš.
The experienced expert managed Borussia from June to December 2017. He was sacked because he did not score a single goal in six matches in the Champions League group stage.
- It was quite a long time ago. In Borussia, there are not many players and members of the coaching staff from that time, but I am glad to meet Julian Brant, whom I know from my time in Leverkusen. He is a great football player and it would be good if he didn't play against us - said Bos.
"Millionaires" want the European season to last as long as possible after they passed the "group of death" behind Paris Saint-Germain and ahead of Milan and Newcastle.
- The first match will not solve the issue of placing in the quarterfinals, but we have to be ready for everything against an excellent team - said Borussia coach Edin Terzić.
Bonus video:
