Inter Milan and Viktoria Plzen, the reigning Czech champions, will square off against one another on Tuesday evening at Stadion Mesta Plzne. Both teams started their Champions League campaigns with losses in matchday one.
The two teams will be competing in Group C, which also includes the teams that each of them defeated on the opening day of the tournament, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, and will be looking to get off to a good start in the group.
Match Preview: Viktoria Plzen vs Inter Milan
Inter started the Champions League only days after falling to Milan in the derby, their second Serie A defeat in three matches. Nerazzurri defeated 2-0 on Group C’s first night Bundesliga champions.
Since losing the Italian title to Milan in May and the Coppa Italia final to Juventus, Simone Inzaghi’s second season had started well, but recent failures meant pressure to beat Torino on Saturday.
Nicolo Barella and Marcelo Brozovic scored in the 89th minute to give Inzaghi’s ninth-place club a win. Inter have won their last seven Serie A home games, but their next hurdle is in the Czech Republic, where they defeated Slavia Prague 3-1 in 2019.
If Inter wants to finish in the top two, a victory this week is important. Viktoria Plzen hadn’t won a Champions League group stage match in three attempts until Wednesday.
After going down on 13 minutes, Plzen was beaten 5-1 by Xavi’s remodeled squad. Robert Lewandowski’s hat-trick in first-half stoppage time destroyed any chance of an upset.
The Czech First League champions have won six of their first seven domestic matches, including Saturday’s 3-2 triumph over Sigma Olomouc. Michal Bilek’s squad progressed after defeating HJK Helsinki, Sheriff Tiraspol, and Qarabag. Their competitiveness has increased.
Team News: Viktoria Plzen vs Inter Milan
Simone Inzaghi might use former Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana again on Tuesday night after he decided to rest long-serving captain Samir Handanovic against Bayern last week.
Inter may choose to rotate resources in other areas as well, with a weekend trip to Handanovic’s previous club Udinese on the horizon; players like Robin Gosens, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Alessandro Bastoni are pushing for recalls after coming off the bench against Torino.
Since Romelu Lukaku is still recovering from a thigh injury, Joaquin Correa will compete with Edin Dzeko for the starting spot as Lautaro Martinez’s striking partner in the visitors’ 3-5-2 formation.
For Plzen, Tomas Chory, who scored twice over the weekend and set up four goals in six games throughout the qualifiers, should start in place of Fortune Bassey.
As for the match against Barcelona, Michal Bilek is likely to start Pavel Bucha and Lukas Kalvach in central midfield in a 4-2-3-1 configuration, with Jan Sykora, who has scored twice in his past three games, including at Camp Nou.
- Potential Starting Lineup For Viktoria Plzen: Stanek, Holik, Hejda, Pernica, Havel, Kalvach, Bucha, Sykora, Vlkanova, Mosquera, Chory.
- Potential Starting Lineup For Inter Milan: Onana, Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni, Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Mkhitaryan, Darmian, Correa, Martinez.
Our Prediction: Viktoria Plzen 1-1 Inter Milan
Since their late collapse against Lazio a month ago, Inter has failed to find their rhythm on the field and is a ghost of the team that won the Scudetto only a little over a year ago.
They are obviously going to struggle without Lukaku, and as a result, they could find it difficult to break down a quality Plzen squad that can do damage on the break.
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