Bayern Munich vs Inter Milan preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

The UEFA Champions League’s second-best attack will face the competition’s best defence on Tuesday night when Bayern Munich hosts Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena in the first leg of the quarterfinals.

While Bayern Munich relinquished the Bundesliga title to Bayer Leverkusen last season, it’s essential to recognise that winning the German championship is simply the baseline expectation for any Bayern manager. Vincent Kompany will ultimately be assessed based on his ability to secure a UEFA Champions League trophy.

To achieve this, he will face a formidable Inter side that remains unbeaten in 10 consecutive matches. Under the guidance of Simone Inzaghi, Inter has earned a reputation as one of Europe’s top teams.

One key factor in overcoming Inter’s formidable defence is Bayern’s possession of one of the finest strikers of this generation, Harry Kane.

Having appeared in 55 Champions League matches, Kane has made an incredible impact by contributing to 50 goals in the competition—39 goals scored and 11 assists.

This season alone, Kane’s goal contributions have outpaced his number of appearances, with 10 goals and two assists in 11 games.

Bayern finished the group stage in 12th place with five victories and three losses, prompting them to enter the knockout phase play-offs. In those, they faced Celtic, needing a late equaliser in the second leg to avoid extra time, eventually progressing 3-2 on aggregate. Their performance in the round of 16 was more commanding, though, as they triumphed 5-0 against Bayer Leverkusen over two legs.

The Bavarians will have the advantage of an additional day’s rest ahead of this match. They won 3-1 over Augsburg in the Bundesliga last Friday, with Kane and Jamal Musiala scoring to maintain their six-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga table.

However, Bayern’s the victory came at a heavy price as Jamal Musiala suffered a torn muscle that is likely to rule him out for the remainder of the season—an unfortunate setback for Bayern’s hopes of breaking down Inter’s resolute defence.

Bayern Munich’s 28 goals in the 2024-25 Champions League rank second only to Barcelona’s 32. Still, Inter Milan, under Simone Inzaghi, have demonstrated an impressive defensive record, conceding just two goals in their 10 games this season.

While they did concede one in the second leg of their last-16 clash with Feyenoord, Jakub Moder’s penalty proved irrelevant as Marcus Thuram and Hakan Calhanoglu’s goals secured a dominant 4-1 aggregate win for the Italian side.

Inter have been craving another European triumph, having won their third Champions League title against Bayern in 2010. However, their usually solid defence was breached during Saturday’s Serie A match against Parma.

Inzaghi’s team surrendered a 2-0 lead in a 2-2 draw with the league’s lower-half side, meaning their lead at the top of the Serie A standings could be reduced to just one point if second-placed Napoli triumphs over Bologna on Monday.

The result against Parma highlighted a recurring issue for Inter on their travels. They’ve won only two of their last eight away matches in all competitions. Their recent encounters with Bayern have also been less than favourable.

The two sides last met in the 2022-23 group stage, where Bayern triumphed 2-0 both home and away. If Bayern can overcome the high-scoring Inter side on Tuesday, they’ll look forward to a semi-final clash with either Barcelona or Borussia Dortmund.

Inter’s attacking threats, primarily club captain Lautaro Martínez, should not be underestimated. Martínez has scored six goals in the Champions League this season, averaging a goal every 80 minutes. The last Inter player to surpass that tally in a single Champions League campaign was Samuel Eto’o, who netted eight goals in 2010-11. Eto’o’s final strike that season came in a round-of-16 match against Bayern.

Despite their struggles, Inter have eliminated Bayern twice in knockout encounters: first in the 2009-10 final, winning 2-0, and then in 2010-11 in the round of 16, progressing on away goals. They hope to repeat their success as they chase a fourth UEFA Champions League title. If they can claim a win at the Allianz they’ll be red-hot favourites to progress and Inter fans will start to think about buying Champions League final tickets.

Bayern Munich vs Inter Milan match details

• Date: Tuesday, 8th April, 2025
• Location: Munich, Germany
• Venue: Allianz Arena
• Kick-off time: 08:00 PM GMT, 09:00 PM CEST, 07:00 PM UTC
• Referee: Sandro Schärer
• Assistant referees: Stéphane De Almeida,
  Jonas Erni
• VAR: Fedayi San
• Assistant VAR: Pol van Boekel
• Fourth official: Lukas Fähndrich
• Tickets: You can buy Champions League tickets from the clubs or through a reputable online reseller such as Seatsnet.com

Match stats and head-to-head

• Inter have conceded just one goal in five away games in the Champions League this season.

• Harry Kane reached his 10th goal of the current Champions League campaign in the round of 16 second leg against Leverkusen, becoming the first Englishman to hit double figures in a single season of the competition. Only Barcelona’s Raphinha (11) has scored more goals in the  competition this season. Kane has also been directly involved in 24 goals (18 goals, six assists) in 23 UCL appearances, the most of any player since the start of last season.

• This will be the 10th encounter between Bayern and Inter, with their most recent meeting occurring in the 2022-23 Champions League group stage. Bayern hold the upper hand with five wins to three, but Inter triumphed 2-0 in the 2009-10 Champions League final.

• Bayern have won more than half of their nine European meetings with Inter (W5, D1, L3), though the Nerazzurri have knocked Bayern out in both previous Champions League knockout clashes—first in the 2010 final and later in the last 16 in 2011. Bayern only overcame Inter in the third round of the 1988/89 UEFA Cup.

• The Bavarians have recovered from those setbacks, winning their group-stage encounters against Inter 2-0 two years ago. Additionally, Bayern have progressed from their last four knockout ties against Serie A teams.

• These two clubs have shared nine Champions League trophies, with Bayern securing six while Inter have won three.

• Bayern are unbeaten in their last 22 home matches in the Champions League.

• Kane and Michael Olise are part of a Bayern attacking force that makes it challenging for opposing defences to build attacks. This is demonstrated by Bayern’s average of 122 high-intensity pressures per game in the final third in the Champions League this season, a competition high for 2024-25.

Team news

With Musiala sidelined, Kompany may rely on 35-year-old Thomas Müller, who revealed on Saturday that this will be his farewell season at Bayern after 25 years with the club. Müller, currently three goals away from reaching 250 in Bayern’s colours, has proven to be a standout in the crucial stages of this competition, sitting sixth on the all-time list for Champions League knockout goals with 27.

In addition to Musiala’s injury, Bayern have also been hit hard by the absence of Alphonso Davies and Dayot Upamecano due to significant knee injuries. The availability of Kingsley Coman (unspecified injury) and Manuel Neuer (calf strain) for the opening leg is still uncertain, though Neuer’s chances are incredibly slim.

On the other hand, Harry Kane has allayed concerns about a possible injury despite being seen with an ice pack on his ankle on Friday. The Tottenham Hotspur icon is expected to be fit to take the lead, having made history as the first English player to score 10 goals in a single Champions League season.

Inter’s defensive meltdown against Parma can partly be blamed on Alessandro Bastoni, who was substituted at halftime due to a knee issue. However, the Italian defender is reportedly recovering well and is expected to be ready for the first leg.

In contrast, Mehdi Taremi (muscle), Piotr Zielinski (calf), and Denzel Dumfries (thigh) will not feature, and Kristjan Asllani will miss the match due to a one-game suspension after accumulating too many yellow cards.

With both Zielinski and Asllani unavailable, Davide Frattesi is set to step in alongside Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in midfield, supporting the dynamic attacking partnership of Thuram and captain Lautaro Martinez.

Predicted starting lineup

Bayern Munich predicted starting lineup:

Urbig; Laimer, Kim, Dier, Guerreiro; Palhinha, Kimmich; Olise, Muller, Sane; Kane.

Inter Milan predicted starting lineup:

Sommer; Acerbi, Bisseck, Bastoni; Darmian, Calhanoglu, Frattesi, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Martinez.

Prediction

Bayern may have shown some weaknesses when facing more vigorous opponents this season. Still, their displays over two legs against Leverkusen should give them a significant boost in confidence going into this match. Inter will believe Inter can defeat nearly every team in Europe with their disciplined defensive approach and more fluid attacking play when performing at their peak. However, injuries in the final third might hinder their ambitions.

However, securing a win requires goals, and that’s no easy task against Inter, who have only conceded two goals in 10 Champions League matches this season.

We’re predicting a 1-0 win for Inter.