Overview
In their return to the European arena since the defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the 2024-2025 final, Inter Milan have shown their strength by easily overcoming Ajax earlier this month. At Johan Cruyff Arena, Hakan Calhanoglu twice assisted Marcus Thuram to score a double.
After the opening victory in the Champions League, Inter gradually regained stability in Serie A with an impressive series of matches. Cristian Chivu's side were disappointing when they lost to Udinese and dropped points in a 3-4 defeat to Juventus in the Italian derby, but they quickly returned to form.
The Nerazzurri defeated Sassuolo and Cagliari in turn, in which Lautaro Martinez continued his goal-scoring streak with Rossoblu - the 12th goal in 12 encounters. Young star Francesco Pio Esposito also scored his first goal in Serie A, while Inter repeatedly threatened the opponent's goal.
With their excellent domestic performance, Chivu and his team aim to maintain their excitement in Europe. Inter are now unbeaten in their last 16 Champions League games at the San Siro, having won 13 since a 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich three years ago.
Notably, they have also kept a clean sheet in 9/10 recent group stage matches - a record built from the reign of former coach Simone Inzaghi.
This is only the third meeting between the two teams, after two group stage matches in the 2019-2020 Champions League, when Slavia Prague only won one point.
The Czech representative has never won a UEFA match in Italy, losing 7/8 appearances. The only exception was the 1-1 draw with Inter at the San Siro 6 years ago, when Nicolo Barella equalized in the last minute.
Similar to the home team, both of Slavia's goals in the opening match came from the same duo. Lukas Provod assisted El Hadji Youssoupha Mbodji to score a double against Bodo/Glimt both times.
Despite launching 26 shots - a record number in the club's history in the Champions League - Slavia conceded 2 goals in the last 12 minutes and had to accept a draw right at home.
After a 2-0 win over Dukla Prague, Slavia extended their unbeaten streak to 13 games in all competitions, and their last failed to score was in April. Currently, Jindrich Trpisovsky's team is in second place in the domestic league, just one point behind their arch-rivals Sparta.
However, their impressive domestic form has not been maintained in Europe. Slavia have lost all three of their most recent away matches in the continental arena without scoring. And they have not had any more Champions League wins since the first time doing so in 2007.
Personnel situation
Inter will have almost the strongest squad as captain Lautaro Martinez has recovered from a back injury suffered earlier this month. The Argentine striker scored last weekend and scored a double against Slavia Prague in 2019. Esposito and Marcus Thuram are also competing for a starting position in attack.
In midfield, Denzel Dumfries, Federico Dimarco and Petar Sucic are all aiming to regain their position in the familiar 5-man midfield formation. In goal, veteran goalkeeper Yann Sommer lost his starting position to Ruben Martinez, but the possibility of a trade-off is still open.
On the other side of the front line, Slavia Prague will not have the services of Dominik Javorcek, Igoh Ogbu, Petr Sevcik and defensive mainstay Tomas Holes due to injury. The good news for Jindrich Trpisovsky is that captain Jan Boril returned to the bench in the most recent match.
Up front, Tomas Chory is likely to continue playing alongside Lukas Provod. However, Mojmir Chytil and Ivan Schranz are also options worth considering.
Expected lineup:
Inter Milan: Martinez, Akanji, Acerbi, Bastoni, dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Sucic, Dimarco, Martinez, Thuram.
Slavia Prague: Markovic, Doudera, Chaloupek, Zima, Mbodji, Zafeiris, Dorley, Kusej, Cham, Provod, Chory.
The match between Inter Milan and Slavia Prague takes place at 2:00 am on October 1 (Vietnam time).
