With no time to rest after an epic six-goal thriller in Spain, Inter Milan resume their ailing defence of the Serie A title on Saturday, when they welcome Hellas Verona to San Siro.
Inter may have impressed in Barcelona, but three straight domestic defeats have left them playing catch-up to Napoli, also ending their run in the Coppa Italia; meanwhile, Hellas still need points to secure survival.
Match preview
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Few would have predicted a 3-3 draw from the first leg of Inter's Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, as the competition's meanest defence tackled its most explosive attack - but a chaotic contest ultimately played out that way on Wednesday evening.
Fit-again Marcus Thuram cleverly flicked the Nerazzurri in front after just 30 seconds at Montjuic, and Denzel Dumfries then doubled their lead in the 21st minute; however, Barca recovered to make it 2-2 at the break. Though Dumfries struck again after half time, the Blaugrana soon bit back, setting up a high-stakes showdown at San Siro next week.
First, though, Inter must try to stay in the hunt for another Scudetto, as Italy's reigning champions have a three-point deficit to new leaders Napoli with just four games to play.
Beaten by Roma last weekend, Simone Inzaghi's men have lost their last two league games without scoring - either side of a painful cup exit to city rivals AC Milan - while looking a pale shadow of their former selves.
Leaking goals at an alarming rate, an Inzaghi side seems to be tailing off once again: April and May are the two months in which his teams have historically suffered the most league defeats (12 in each).
With a May loss rate of 36%, he will be keen to reverse that trend in 2025 - starting by beating Verona, who are perhaps Inter's favourite opponents.
The Nerazzurri have beaten Hellas more times than anyone else in Serie A (41), scoring 117 goals in the process, after Thuram bagged a brace in November's 5-0 win at the Bentegodi.
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In fact, Verona have never won a top-flight fixture at San Siro - against either Milan or Inter - in 66 previous attempts, so history will be heavily stacked against them on Saturday.
Like their hosts, Hellas have also lost their last two league games without scoring: after Monday's 2-0 home defeat to fellow strugglers Cagliari, they occupy 16th place in the table.
Sitting seven points above the drop zone, the Gialloblu's destiny remains within their own hands, as Paolo Zanetti's side still have to play two relegation rivals - Lecce and Empoli - before the campaign concludes.
While Verona have tightened up at the back in the second half of the season, they have also scored just six goals in 16 games this calendar year - failing to find the net on 10 occasions.
As both are negative Serie A records for 2025, even Inter's increasingly shaky defence may be able to keep such a toothless attack at arm's length.
Team News
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Inter will be without coach Simone Inzaghi and midfield fulcrum Hakan Calhanoglu this weekend, as both must serve a one-match ban after an investigation into their dealings with the club's ultras.
That ruling exacerbates Inzaghi's woes, as captain Lautaro Martinez was withdrawn midway through Wednesday's Champions League clash having suffered a thigh injury; Benjamin Pavard is also sidelined.
Furthermore, Marcus Thuram only returned from a three-game layoff to start in Barcelona, but he may be required from the first whistle once again. Inter's loss rate rises from 7.7% with their French forward in the starting XI to 37.5% without him, so he could partner Mehdi Taremi, Marko Arnautovic or Joaquin Correa.
Verona, meanwhile, lack such firepower in attack, with six-goal top scorer Casper Tengstedt plagued by fitness problems in recent months. All four of Amin Sarr's league strikes this season have come away from home, and he will be charged with leading the line at San Siro.
Having deployed a three-man defence of late, coach Paolo Zanetti has a selection headache to resolve this weekend: Daniele Ghilardi and Diego Coppola are suspended, while Pawel Dawidowicz is still sidelined by injury.
In better news for the visitors, key creator Tomas Suslov has fully recovered from a virus, so he could support Sarr up front.
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Bisseck, De Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Asllani, Zielinski, Augusto; Arnautovic, Thuram
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Daniliuc, Valentini, Frese; Tchatchoua, Duda, Serdar, Bradaric; Suslov; Sarr, Mosquera
We say: Inter Milan 1-0 Hellas Verona
It may not be pretty, but even tired and absence-hit Inter should still have enough gas in the tank to rack up yet another win over lowly Verona.
Hellas have little to offer up front, so the reigning Serie A champions can get their noses in front before saving some energy for Barcelona's arrival.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
