After booking a spot in the final four of Europe's top competition, Inter Milan return to their Serie A title defence on Sunday evening, as they meet Bologna at Stadio Dall'Ara.
In midweek, Inter beat Bayern Munich over two legs to reach the Champions League semi-finals; now, they continue their quest to retain the Scudetto.
Match preview
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Leading 2-1 after a dramatic first leg in Bavaria, Inter ultimately recovered from conceding the opening goal in Wednesday's return at San Siro, edging past the German champions 4-3 on aggregate.
Captain Lautaro Martinez and ex-Bayern defender Benjamin Pavard both struck within three minutes either side of the hour mark, as the Nerazzurri set up an enticing semi-final clash with La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Losing finalists two years ago, the three-time European champions are still chasing a treble, with the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi against city rivals AC Milan coming up next week. In Serie A, Simone Inzaghi's side lead the way, with only Napoli standing between them and back-to-back Scudetti.
Now 13 games unbeaten across all competitions, Inter swept aside lowly Cagliari last weekend, when a 3-1 home win consolidated top spot - back in peak form, Martinez was also on target against the Sardinians.
As a result, they have surpassed the 70-goal mark at this stage of a league season for only the third time in 60 years, averaging well over two per game so far this term.
However, following a prior streak of eight away wins with seven clean sheets, the Nerazzurri have since won only one of the next six on their travels around Italy.
As an injury-hit and ageing squad shows signs of wear and tear, during that time they rank 10th in the away form table, so beating Bologna at the Dall'Ara could prove a tough task.
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Since a 6-1 thumping in late 2022, Sunday's hosts have posed a much sterner test to Inter, losing just once in four subsequent league and cup meetings.
An entertaining 2-2 draw in January's reverse fixture set the Emilian club off on a superb run of form, as they surged through to the Coppa Italia semi-finals and leapt up the Serie A standings.
Six straight wins across all competitions took them into the top four - and put one foot in the cup final, where Inter could be their opponents next month - but they suffered a rare setback last Sunday.
Fellow Champions League contenders Atalanta BC beat the Rossoblu in Bergamo, so Vincenzo Italiano's men now trail fourth-placed Juventus by two points with just six games left to play.
Facing a tough run-in - during which they will come face to face with AC Milan, Fiorentina and Juve - Bologna cannot afford to suffer back-to-back Serie A defeats for the first time since January 2023.
So, Sunday's game could prove crucial in terms of momentum - particularly if they can cause an upset by toppling the league leaders.
Team News
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Simone Inzaghi could rotate his Inter squad on Sunday, following their midweek exertions, so fringe players such as ex-Bologna striker Marko Arnautovic will be on standby to start.
Arnautovic, who scored 24 goals in 54 Serie A appearances for the Rossoblu, has been in good form of late, and he will compete with Mehdi Taremi and Joaquin Correa to replace the injured Marcus Thuram.
Piotr Zielinski and Denzel Dumfries are also sidelined, though the latter is now nearing his return.
Meanwhile, the hosts will again be without Lewis Ferguson, Davide Calabria and first-choice goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski; centre-back Nicolo Casale is also struggling with a shoulder injury.
Emil Holm and Lorenzo De Silvestri will vie to deputise for Calabria at right-back, and Federico Ravaglia should start in goal.
Up front, Santiago Castro and Thijs Dallinga continue their battle for the sole striker's spot, with support coming from top scorer Riccardo Orsolini and Swiss winger Dan Ndoye.
The latter netted an extra-time winner against Inter in last year's Coppa Italia, and he now aims to be the first Bologna player to score in five straight Serie A home matches this century.
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Ravaglia; Holm, Beukema, Lucumi, Miranda; Freuler, Aebischer; Orsolini, Odgaard, Ndoye; Dallinga
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Zalewski, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Augusto; Correa, Martinez
We say: Bologna 1-1 Inter Milan
Demonstrating their resilience, Bologna have won the most points from losing positions in Serie A this season (17) - but their latest visitors have yet to lose after leading.
So, even if the Rossoblu get their noses in front against a tired Inter team, the points could still be shared. In the circumstances, that suits neither side.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
