Inter Milan will take a 2-1 lead into the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final at home to Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.
Davide Frattesi netted a late winner in a dramatic first leg at the Allianz Arena last Tuesday, giving the Nerazzurri a slender advantage on their return to San Siro.
Match preview
© Imago
After taking the lead with one of the finest counter-attacking moves of the season in Bavaria, Inter were pegged back late on by the evergreen Thomas Muller, but Simone Inzaghi's men still had more to offer.
Just as it seemed Bayern would push on for an unlikely winner, Inter hit them with a counterpunch, breaking away themselves to retake the lead on 88 minutes, and after briefly switching off for the Muller goal, they kept their focus to hold on for the 2-1 win.
That puts Inter in a fantastic position to reach a second semi-final in three years, where Barcelona are likely to be waiting - the same club they beat in the 2010 semis when they completed the 'tripletta'.
Last week's win was their fifth in succession in the Champions League, the first time Inter have managed that feat since they won it with Jose Mourinho in that special 2009-10 season.
The hosts also enter the second leg unbeaten in 14 at San Siro in the competition, which after beating Bayern last week and ending their 22-game run on their own patch, is now the longest ongoing run in the Champions League.
Another treble is in sight for Inter, and going 12 unbeaten across all competitions suggests it will take quite something to stop them at present, as Cagliari were no match for Inzaghi's side at the weekend, in a 3-1 win for the Serie A leaders.
All Inter have to do is maintain that unbeaten run this midweek and they will be into the semi-finals, ahead of their Coppa Italia semi-final second leg against AC Milan next Wednesday.
The Nerazzurri have progressed from 21 of their previous 23 Champions League ties after winning the first leg, but one of those defeats did come last season, when they failed to capitalise on a dominant first-leg performance and were eliminated by Atletico Madrid in the last 16.
© Imago
That could give a slither of hope to Bayern, who have only won one of their last eight Champions League ties after losing the first leg, but that success was in the most recent, and also came against Italian opposition in the form of Lazio, in last season's round of 16.
Bayern have also remarkably won all four of their away matches against Inter, three of which have come in the Champions League, and all without conceding a goal.
That is Inter's longest losing streak at home to a single opponent in Europe, but unless Vincent Kompany can mastermind another, he will be under huge pressure in the Bayern dugout.
The first-leg defeat was the first time Bayern had lost at home in Europe for four years, when Paris Saint-Germain defeated them in the quarter-finals, and they do not bring scintillating form into this fixture either.
Bayern were fortunate to see Bayer Leverkusen slip up at home over the weekend, because Kompany's men were only able to draw 2-2 with Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker, but a six-point lead with just five games to play is starting to look safe.
Team News
© Imago
Inzaghi rotated his Inter team slightly at the weekend, allowing the likes of Marcus Thuram, Alessandro Bastoni and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to rest ahead of the second leg.
Mehdi Taremi returned from a muscle injury to make the bench against Cagliari, while Kristjan Asllani will be available again after a European suspension, but both are set to start as substitutes.
Piotr Zielinski and Denzel Dumfries remain sidelined with injury, while Inzaghi has a decision to make at left wing-back, with Federico Dimarco back to full fitness, but Carlos Augusto playing out of his skin at present.
Bayern will be without Jamal Musiala for the rest of the season, so Raphael Guerreiro could start as the number 10 again after impressing off the bench against Dortmund, even though Muller got the goal after being introduced from the bench last week.
Youngster Jonas Urbig will start again in goal, with Manuel Neuer's potential return date being knocked back to the end of April at the earliest, and the visitors have plenty of absentees just in front, with Alphonso Davies, Dayot Upamecano and Hiroki Ito all injured at the back.
Serge Gnabry has put pressure on Leroy Sane for a starting berth after netting off the bench in the draw with Dortmund at the weekend, but it is likely Kompany will stick with the latter here, despite also having Kingsley Coman available.
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Thuram
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Urbig; Laimer, Dier, Kim, Stanisic; Kimmich, Goretzka; Olise, Guerreiro, Sane; Kane
We say: Inter Milan 0-0 Bayern Munich
Inzaghi's Inter have become the masters of defensive solidity in Europe and another exemplary performance should be enough to see them into the final four.
Bayern will rue switching off late on last week after pulling level and even though they have an excellent record at San Siro, this task looks like a big one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
