Overview
Atletico Madrid's Champions League campaign this season has been very unstable, when they have only won 6 points after half of the group stage.
Diego Simeone's team has had two bitter taste in England - lost 2-3 to Liverpool and 0-4 to Arsenal - but won a big win over Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 and continued to beat Union Saint-Gilloise 3-1 in the most recent match. In the win in Madrid earlier this month, Julian Alvarez, Conor Gallagher and Marcos Llorente all scored.
Having finished second twice and both times losing to Real Madrid, Atletico was also eliminated from the Champions League by the same city last season. This season, they still need to accumulate more points to secure a place in the knockout round.
Metropolitano continues to be an important support. Atletico have lost just one of their last 16 Champions League games here and won 10 of their last 11 at home.
After the victory over Getafe last weekend, Simeone's team - currently fourth in La Liga - had a streak of 5 consecutive wins before entering the midweek match.
Atletico last met Inter Milan in the 1/8 round of the 2024 Champions League. At that time, Simeone's team won the second leg at Metropolitano and then defeated the Serie A representative on penalties to qualify for the next round.
Despite only winning 1 of their last 15 group stage matches against Spanish teams, Inter still have an impressive overall record.
After a defeat in the Champions League final in May - for the second time in three seasons - the blue team has won 10/11 of their most recent group stage matches, including a 2-1 victory over Kairat earlier this month.
Notably, the goal conceded in that match was one of very few times Inter conceded in the Champions League. They have kept a clean sheet 11 times in the last 13 matches in the number one playground in Europe.
The Nerazzurri also beat Ajax, Slavia Prague and Union SG to get close to the knockout round. As one of only three teams - along with Bayern Munich and Arsenal - to maintain an absolute winning streak after four matches, Inter have scored at least 2 goals in every group stage match this season.
Although they have never won their first five games in a Champions League season, Inter have every chance to reach that milestone.
However, Cristian Chivu's side are facing a worrying problem as they have often lost in major matches. The 0-1 defeat in the recent match of the della Madonnina Derby, after losses to Napoli and Juventus, caused Inter to fall to fourth place in Serie A.
Personnel situation
While Robin Le Normand is still sidelined with a knee injury, Atletico Madrid are likely to be without the services of Marcos Llorente and veteran goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
If Oblak does not recover in time, Juan Musso will make his first appearance in the European arena after keeping a clean sheet against Getafe last weekend.
Antoine Griezmann was given a break in the match against Getafe, and he will compete with Giacomo Raspadori and Alexander Sorloth to pair up with Julian Alvarez in attack. Since the start of last season, Alvarez has scored 14 goals in the Champions League.
On the opposite side, Alvarez's compatriot in the Argentine national team shirt - Lautaro Martinez - is preparing to have his 50th match in the Champions League. He is in excellent scoring form with 12 goals in just his last 11 appearances in this tournament.
Denzel Dumfries still has ankle problems and may continue to be absent along with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Matteo Darmian. With Mkhitaryan unable to return, Petar Sucic and Piotr Zielinski are two candidates for the position in Inter's midfield.
Expected lineup:
Atletico Madrid: Musso, Molina, Gimenez, Hancko, Ruggeri, Simeone, Barrios, Koke, Gonzalez, Sorloth, Alvarez.
Inter Milan: Sommer, Akanji, Bisseck, Bastoni, Augusto, Barella, Calhanoglu, Zielinski, Dimarco, Martinez, Thuram.
The match between Atletico Madrid and Inter takes place at 3:00 am on November 27 (Vietnam time).
