Overview
Jose Mourinho will reunite with Cristian Chivu at the Bernabeu, where the two once created one of the most memorable moments of their careers with Inter Milan.
In 2010, Chivu was a member of Inter under Mourinho and started in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu. The Romanian defender played 68 minutes before witnessing Diego Milito score a double, helping Inter win 2-0 and complete the treble including the Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia.
After that championship, Mourinho left Inter to start his first term at Real Madrid. The Champions League is the only major title he could not win in 3 years at the Bernabeu, despite bringing the Royal Spanish team to the semi-finals in all 3 consecutive seasons.
Mourinho led Real Madrid 36 matches in the Champions League, winning 24, reaching a rate of 66.7%. Among the coaches who have had at least 10 matches in the league, only Carlo Ancelotti has a higher winning rate of 68.8%.
Real Madrid also scored in 35/36 Champions League matches under Mourinho, reaching a rate of 97% - the highest among teams with at least 20 matches under a coach.
However, Real Madrid just experienced their first match without scoring since Mourinho's return. They lost to Real Betis 0-1, with Troy Parrott scoring the decisive goal in the 81st minute. Kylian Mbappe also missed the opportunity to equalize when he could not beat the Betis goalkeeper on penalties in the final minutes.
Mbappe will have the opportunity to regain his form in the Champions League, the tournament where he won the top scorer title last season with 15 goals. The French striker currently has 70 goals after 98 matches in the Champions League.
Denzel Dumfries is also likely to face his old team Inter for the first time since moving in the summer. The Dutch defender once reached 2 Champions League finals with Inter in 2023 and 2025, before the Italian team was eliminated by Bodo/Glimt in the play-offs last season.
Inter's away record in the Champions League is quite good. They have won 4 out of the last 5 matches in the group stage, only received 1 defeat and kept a clean sheet in all 4 victories. In the last 17 matches in the group stage or knockout round, Inter has 12 matches without conceding a goal.
The Italian team also only has 2 matches without scoring in the last 19 Champions League matches. Before the away match at the Bernabeu, Inter was also having a perfect start in Serie A with 3 consecutive wins.
Head-to-head record
Real Madrid has won 6 out of 7 recent encounters with Inter, only suffering 1 defeat, including 4 Champions League encounters since the beginning of the 21st century. Inter is the team that has met Real Madrid the most in major European tournaments since 2000, but has never won.
Inter did not score in 3 of these matches. The last time they experienced a 4-match consecutive goalless streak in the C1/Champions League was against Barcelona, in the period from 2003 to 2009.
Score prediction: Real Madrid 1-0 Inter Milan
The match between Real Madrid and Inter Milan takes place at 2:00 AM on September 9 (Vietnam time).
