MADRID, 2 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Inter Milan welcomes a Benfica in trouble this Tuesday at the Giuseppe Meazza after the unexpected defeat of the Portuguese on the first day of the group stage, while Manchester United and Galatasaray measure their strength at Old Trafford in a vital duel importance for both after a bad start to ‘Champions’.
Inter Milan, current runners-up in the competition, receive the Portuguese Benfica on the second day of Group D. A match in which the Lisbon team plays a good part of their chances of being in the round of 16 of the competition, since Their unexpected defeat on the first day against Salzburg (0-2) leaves them with less room for maneuver.
Despite this, Roger Schmidt’s men arrive at the duel with their morale through the roof after beating their biggest rival, Porto, 1-0 last weekend thanks to the solitary goal from Ángel Di María, who served for the Lisbon team. to place second in the domestic league.
For its part, Inter, which is the leader of Serie A after seven games, could not get past a draw in its European debut against Real Sociedad. A match in which Inzaghi’s men were outplayed by the Basque team, but in which they were effective to get a point that could be decisive in the future of the group. In front of their home crowd, they will try to add their first victory of the group stage and return to their winning ways at home, since in the last game in front of their home team they were defeated by Sassuolo 1-2 in Serie A.
As for the precedents, they are favorable to the Italians, who have never lost to Benfica in Europe. Three Italian victories, one of them in the European Cup final 64-65 (1-0), and two draws. The Milanese also won the last time they faced each other, the last edition of the ‘Champions’, in which Inzaghi’s team left Benfica behind in the quarterfinals of the competition, thanks to the victory in Portugal (0 -2), confirmed with a draw at Meazza (3-3).
For the match, Benfica will not be able to count on central defender Antonio Silva, sent off on the first day against Salzburg. His place in the eleven will presumably be taken by the Brazilian Morato, who did not play a single minute in the league match against Porto. For its part, Inter have seen, over the course of the first to the second matchday of the Champions League, how the losses of Cuadrado and Sensi were joined by those of Arnautovic and Frattesi, both with minutes against Real Sociedad.
Another of the big matches on Tuesday is the one between Manchester United and Galatasaray at Old Trafford. A match that, despite the fact that it is only matchday 2, has overtones of being decisive, since the ‘red devils’ fell in their debut against Bayern Munich (4-3), while the Turks could only get a draw in their home match against the weakest rival in the group, Copenhagen (2-2). A match that will also mark the return of the top European club competition to the ‘Theater of Dreams’ after a season of absence.
United’s Dutch coach, Ten Hag, will be able to count on Sofyan Amrabat, who was absent in the ‘Champions’ debut, although Reguilón, a starter in Munich, has not entered the squad due to a muscle injury. The Spaniard thus joins the losses of Antony, Malacia, Lisandro Martínez, Sancho, Shaw, Traoré and Wan-Bissaka, who will also not be able to be in the game. Where there may be a change due to a technical decision is in goal, where the Turkish Altay Bayindir has a chance of entering the eleven motivated by the poor form of Andre Onana.
For its part, Galatasaray will seek the first victory in its history at Old Trafford – a draw and two defeats so far – with an eleven very similar to the one that drew against Copenhagen. The main loss of the Istanbul team will be Ziyech. Okan Buruk will be without one of their main stars, whose replacement in the eleven aims to be an old acquaintance of United such as Wilfried Zaha. A player who played for the Manchester team in the 13-14 season, and for whom he has scored 3 goals throughout his career in the ranks of Crystal Palace.
In addition to these two games, Bayern will try to extend their unbeaten streak in the Champions League group stage in Copenhagen, where they have not lost since September 2017, going 35 games without defeat and 14 consecutive victories. Unión Berlin will look for its first victory in the Champions League against Braga, while Arsenal wants to get on track to advance to the round of 16 by adding two out of two against Lens in France.