Inter Milan vs Napoli preview, team news, likely line-ups and prediction

Inter Milan would hope to bounce back from their Champions League knockout defeat to Atletico Madrid when they host defending champions, Napoli at San Siro on matchday 29 of Serie A.

The Nerazzuri would be disappointed to see their 2-goal lead squashed as Atletico took the match beyond regulation time to extra time and then to penalties.

Having secured a 1:0 first-leg advance courtesy of a second-half Marco Arnautovic’s strike, Inter started the second-leg at the Wanda Metropolitano brightly and took the lead through quick-precision play as Federico Dimarco opened the scoring in the 33rd minute of the game after smart-work from Nicolò Barella.

The never-say-never aura of the Champions League came to bear once again as Antoine Griezmann equalised to half the aggregate deficit two minutes later. Koke’s lofted pass flew over an array of Inter defenders to meet Griezman who struck the ball swiftly to the back of the net.

Griezmann came close to doubling the lead before half-time but his effort was deflected out by Inter’s defender, Benjamin Pavard.

Simone Inzaghi’s side came close to extending their advantage when Lautaro Martinez set up two big chances but Marcus Thuram and Barella fluffed their efforts as they failed to convert.

They were made to pay for their missed chances as Koke provided his second assist of the match, as his pass was met by Memphis Depay who struck nicely into the bottom corner. The Rojiblancos could have turned the game completely around when Griezmann played Rodrigo Riquelme through but the youngster sent his strike over the post to send Diego Simeone lay bare face on the ground.

Inter held firm in extra time as the game went to a penalty shootout. Sadly for the Nerazzuri, Jan Oblak made two saves and Martinez sent his strike well over as Atletico squeezed through to the next stage. Fans who buy Inter Milan tickets were left hugely disappointed as the Italians were well placed to progress, but blew their lead. 

Napoli knockout

They now turn attention to domestic competitions as they’ll look to quench every disappointment in preparation for the clash against Napoli – who were also knocked out of the Champions League by Spanish champions, Barcelona.

The hosts controlled proceedings from the onset as Napoli struggled to lay a strong foot on the game.

Barcelona had a flurry of chances as Fermin Lopez was guilty of missing two chances. The youngster made up for his missed chances when he opened the scoring after Raphinha’s ball was dummied by Robert Lewandowski to allow Lopez to strike the ball in the post unmarked.

Napoli attacked straight from kick-off but a quick counter-attack from the Blaugrana saw Lamine Yamal who passed to Raphinha on the far left. The Brazilian winger hit the post with his strike but Napoli defenders were found wanting as João Cancelo was quickest to react to the ball as he poked home the second goal of the game.

The Italian Champions began to exert themselves in the game as Barcelona retrieved back to the defensive as Francesco Calzona’s side were carrying out offensive onslaughts.

A beautiful passing sequence from the Gli Azzurri on the right wing led to a goal as Matteo Politano squared the ball to an unmarked Amir Rrahmani whose swift strike found the bottom corner to half the deficit.

Calzona’s side were still in control of the game at Camp Nou and almost found the leveller when Giovanni Di Lorenz’s instinctive header was acrobatically parried out by Marc-André ter Stegen to keep Barcelona in the game.

Napoli continued to dominate the game and Xavi Hernandez’s side were lucky to hear the half-time whistle as the Catalans were close to surrendering their two-goal lead.

Upon resumption of the second half, Napoli continued to control proceedings but the defensive duo of Ronald Araujo and Pau Cubarsí were on high alert to isolate Napoli’s marksman, Victor Osimhen from creating or meeting chances inside the Barcelona 18-yard-box.

Calzona swung in two changes to add fresh legs to Napoli’s attack but it was Xavi’s substitutes that had the bigger impact in the game as Barcelona began to regain control of the game. Yamal came close to adding a third but fluffed his chance.

The Blaugrana’s dominance didn’t stop Napoli from carving out chances and could have found the leveller in the 80th minute when a cross from Mathías Olivera found Jesper Lindstrom unmarked in the six-yard box but the youngster sent his header wide from point-blank range.

The game seemed to be determined by the team with the better substitute when Sergi Roberto made a surging run before a quick double pass with Ilkay Gündogan sliced Napoli’s defence open as Roberto unselfishly played the ball to Lewandowski tapped into an empty net as the Culers at the Olimpic Lluis Companys were sent to ruptures.

Napoli threw everything they had in the dying minutes of the game but didn’t do enough to score and would be disappointed at the defensive display ahead of their visit to Inter.

The Nerazzuri are souring towards their 20th Scudetto title and are entering this game at the back of a 1:0 victory to Bologna in Serie A. Napoli on the other hand played out a 1:1 draw with Torino and their turnaround in domestic performance since the appointment of Carlzona could see them pose significant threat to the Italian log leaders when they both square off.

Inter Milan v Napoli Team News

For Inzaghi’s side, Arnautovic remains out with a hamstring injury after missing out on the clash against Atletico. Juan Cuadrado remains a long-term absentee with an achilles injury while Stefano Sensi is still out for a lengthy period with an ankle injury.

The state of Carlos Augusto’s chances of playing against Napoli remains unclear after the left-back tweaked his calf in the victory over Bologna and did not feature in the clash against Atletico.

Gli Azzurri were lucky to have Rrahmani back in the squad after the centre-back limped off during the 2:1 victory over Juventus that prompted him to miss the 1:1 draw over Torino.

However, the 30-year-old was back in the squad and was the scorer for Napoli in their 3:1 loss to Barcelona.

Piotr Zielinski could return to Serie A action after the midfielder was excluded from Napoli’s Champions League squad as the Poland International is set to join Napoli’s next opponents, Inter next summer.

Predicted starting line-ups 

Inter Milan predicted starting lineup:

Sommer; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Martinez

Napoli predicted starting lineup:

Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmarni, Jesus, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, Traore; Politano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia

Prediction 

Both teams are coming to this game on the back of losses in the UEFA Champions League. However, Inter are the better side domestically. They have won all their games in the League this year and are looking to further solidify their stay at the cusp of the Serie A table.

Napoli meanwhile are only recently finding their feet after the appointment of Carlzona and despite defeating Juventus, Inter possesses much more firepower to defeat the current Italian Champions.