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Tue, 11/03/25, 23:00
Inter Milan: All you need to know about Bayern’s Champions League quarter-final opponents
Bayern now know that their next opponents in the 2024/25 Champions League will be Inter Milan, after the Nerazzurri saw their 2-0 first-leg advantage against Feyenoord over the line with a 2-1 victory back at the San Siro to book their place in the quarter-finals. The first leg against Italy’s reigning champions is scheduled to be played at the Allianz Arena on 8/9 April, with the return leg in Milan on 15/16 April.
Head-to-head record
Bayern last faced Inter on 1 November 2022, with Dayot Upamecano & Co. enjoying a 2-0 home win. | © Imago
Bayern fans can look back on a positive record against the current Serie A leaders. Out of nine previous meetings, the Bavarians have won five to Inter’s three, with one game ending in a draw. The pair last faced each other in the 2002/23 group stage, with Bayern winning 2-0 home and away. One bad memory will obviously linger among supporters, namely the 2010 Champions League final, when a brace from Diego Milito dashed the hopes of Louis van Gaal’s men in Madrid. Now 15 years on, Bayern want to make sure they get the better of this knockout tie.
Inter’s squad
Benjamin Pavard spent five years at Bayern before his 2023 move to Milan. | © Imago
This quarter-final tie sees a reunion with two former Bayern players. Yann Sommer and Benjamin Pavard both joined Inter in summer 2023 and are key figures in Simone Inzaghi’s team. They aren’t the only one-time Bundesliga players in the Inter ranks either. Yann Bisseck (Köln), Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Borussia Dortmund), Marcus Thuram (Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Marko Arnautovic (Werder Bremen) have all played in Germany in the past.
Inter’s squad is full of experience, as proven by their starting line-up in their 4-0 win over Red Star Belgrade, which was the oldest of any team in the Champions League this season at an average age of 31 years. By means of comparison, the average age of Bayern’s squad is 25.7 years.
Bayern’s defence will have to pay particular attention to captain Lautaro Martinez, who has six goals in the Champions League this season. Strike partner Thuram has been less deadly in Europe (three goals) but lively on the domestic front with 13 Serie A goals. They are usually the front two in Inzaghi’s 3-5-2 formation, which features a compact midfield built around Nicolo Barella and with two wide men.
An very good season so far
Inter retook top spot in Serie A with a 3-2 win at home to Monza. | © Imago
Inzaghi’s squad have been very good at implementing his style of play. The Nerazzurri are still competing in all three competitions this season. They lead Serie A by a single point over Napoli, while they recently reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia with a 2-0 win over Lazio. In the Champions League, they finished in the top eight of the league phase to progress straight to the last 16, where they saw off Feyenoord.
Champions league key dates to come
- Quarter-finals: 8/9 and 15/16 April
- Semi-finals: 29/30 April and 6/7 May
- Final: 31 May (Munich)
Ticket applications for the quarter-finals can be made HERE.
Read about Bayern’s last-16 second leg at Leverkusen here:
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