Since their win over Celtic to secure their spot in the round of 16, Inter Milan have been on a poor run of form. La Beneamata have yet to win in any of their last four games across all competitions and most recently were held to a draw with Cesena this past weekend, severely denting their chances at securing European football for next season.
In the first leg against Wolfsburg, Roberto Mancini's men took an early lead through Rodrigio Palacio, making the third time the Argentinian attacker has scored in his last trio of matches. However, their joy was short-lived as the Bundesliga outfit equalized as the match approached the half-hour mark and then struck again twice in the second half to end their poor run against Italian opposition. Still, despite the deflating loss, the visitors have never kept a clean sheet against Serie A sides and Inter have a pretty solid record at home.
In fact, not only have they conceded just once in their last five home games, but they are also unbeaten in their last 11 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, with seven wins and four draws. Yet, despite this confidence-boosting fact, captain Andrea Ranocchia is still advising his teammates to be wary as they realize that it's do-or-die if they want to secure their spot in the final eight.
"This is a win-or-go-home match. We have to believe that we can overcome [our loss] and [Wolfsburg] could come into this game feeling a bit too relaxed after the first leg," the Italian international stated to Sky Sport Italia.
"We must be careful not to rush or force the issue because there are 90 minutes to be played. If we try to go all-out, we can leave ourselves exposed on the counter-attack, and we cannot afford to concede any goals against them. We have everything to play for to earn our spot in the quarter-finals and I hope many fans will attend to give us that extra boost."
In terms of personnel, the Nerazzurri will be concerned about the condition of attacker Xherdan Shaqiri. The Swiss international, who has been in good form since arriving in Italy sustained a thigh injury during the draw with Cesena. However, reports from Italy are claiming that he has recovered although it remains to be seen whether he will be able to feature from the start.
Dieter Hecking's squad will come into this game on a good run of form, having won their most recent domestic fixture. It has been a good season all in all for them, who were the first - and so far only - side to successfully beat runaway leaders Bayern Munich by an impressive 4-1 score-line. With Champions League football for the 2015/2016 campaign pretty much secured, they surely will like to keep this positive momentum going to make sure there is a Bundesliga representative in the quarter-finals.
Against their tricky opponents, it certainly will not be easy for Inter. However, they nonetheless do have an away goal in hand but will definitely need to step it up if they wish to be yet another Serie A side featuring in this season's Europa League last octet.
Team sheets for Inter Milan vs Wolfsburg
Inter's Starting XI: Carrizo; Campagnaro, Ranocchia, Juan Jesus, Santon; Guarin, Medel; Hernanes, Kovacic, Palacio; Icardi.
Wolfsburg's Starting XI: Benaglio; Trasch, Klose, Knoche, Rodriguez; Guilavogui, Luiz Gustavo; Vieirinha, De Bruyne, Caligiuri; Dost.
Inter's subs: Handanovic, Vidic, Kuzmanovic, Puscas, D'Ambrosio, Shaqiri.
Wolfsburg's subs: Grun, Bendtner, Schafer, Perisic, Schurrle, Jung, Arnold.
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