The Italian will have a chance to change his 100% losing record against the Bavarians.
Bayern Munich’s glorious 5-0 aggregate victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League Round of 16 saw the club advance to the quarterfinals of the competition. Given that the Champions League path was already drawn before the Round of 16 started, the team’s opponents for the next round was already apparent: defending Serie A champions Inter Milan.
Their manager, Simone Inzaghi, has had a tough time facing Bayern, losing all four games in his record against the Bavarians. He was defeated while managing Lazio in 2021 against Hansi Flick’s Bayern. Then in 2022 while managing Inter Milan against Julian Nagelsmann’s Bayern. Inzaghi referenced this difficult past when asked about facing Bayern in the quarterfinal, following Inter’s 2-1 win over Dutch side Feyenoord:
“It will be tricky. I’ve faced them with Inter and with Lazio, and they’re solid,” Inzaghi said after the match (via Sky Sport, as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “We’ll play the way we’ve already done so far, putting everything we have into it. We hope that we can have everyone available by then.”
Of course, Inzaghi’s record should not make anyone believe that this will be an easy match. As indicated above, they handily beat Feyenoord, 4-1 over two legs. This same Feyenoord won 3-0 against Bayern in this season’s UCL group phase. Perhaps even more importantly, the game Bayern conceded against Feyenoord was just the 2nd goal they conceded in this entire Champions League run. That is right, over 8 UCL group phase matches and 2 knockout games they conceded just two goals. Bayern’s star studded offense will have to be at its best to overcome the Italian champions.
Moreover, this will be a revenge mission for Bayern. Inter Milan’s U-19s knocked out Bayern’s U-19s in the UEFA Youth League (essentially the U-19 version of the Champions League) this season. Avenge them, senior team! Avenge them!
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