Inter vs Bayern: Nerazzurri hope to avoid another home pitch UCL opening disappointment

Konula: TV Listings, TV Schedules, Inter, Bayern Munich, UEFA Champions League

The Nerazzurri will be hoping to recover from a disappointing weekend result as they prepare to face Bayern Munich on Wednesday evening.

Losing 3-2 to cross town rivals AC Milan is certainly not the way Inter wanted to warm up for their tricky clash against Bayern Munich on Wednesday. That marks the second loss in their last two games, including a 3-1 reversal to Simone Inzaghi's former side Lazio, and as a result, Inter have slid to eighth place in the league standings. However, the Nerazzurri are on a nine match unbeaten streak at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, and it is that form that they certainly will be hoping will continue to stand as they welcome a Bayern side who have enjoyed their fair share of success against them in this competition in recent times.

Indeed, although Bayern have interestingly struggled against Inter's rivals Milan, they have done quite well when it comes to playing the Nerazzurri in Italy. Their past three trips to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza have seen Bayern win, and despite drawing back to back games in the Bundesliga, Julian Naglesmann's side have still netted a whopping 17 goals in the league and 27 across all comps. Clearly, this shows that die Roten are not struggling for goals despite initial fears following Robert Lewandowski's departure to Barcelona earlier this summer.

Bayern also have a solid record against Italian teams in this competition, with eight wins from their last ten ties. In addition, their stats from opening day matches will definitely cause Inter supporters some concern, as the Bavarian titans have won all 18 of their group stage openers dating back to the 2003/04 season, while scoring an eye-popping 45 times and conceding just twice. By contrast, Inter have not fared well on matchday one when playing at home, with just one win from their last six (D3 L2) and there is also the aforementioned fact that they have failed to beat Bayern in their last three meetings at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

Considering that Inter and Bayern are in this season's "Group of Death" alongside Barcelona, each and every single point from these two fixtures could be the deciding factor as to which of these three teams progresses the knockout rounds and who will have to settle for a spot in the Europa League.

Head to head: Inter vs Bayern

Bayern Munich are unbeaten in their last 10 meetings against Italian sides in the UCL (W8 D2)...
...their last loss was to Inter, in 2011, who are also the last Italian side to have kept a clean sheet against die Roten in this competition (2-0 during the 2009/2010 final)
Bayern have also won all three of their prior trips to Inter's home ground
Head to head: Inter and Bayern have met seven times before in European competition, with three wins for each side
Bayern have won all 18 of their UCL group stage openers dating back to the 2003/04 season
They have scored a whopping 45 goals and conceded just twice during that run
Sadio Mané could become just the fourth African player to reach 25 goals in the UCL (currently has 24 goals)
Inter, interestingly, have struggled for results when playing their UCL opener at home, with just one win from their last six (D3 L2)

Team news: Inter vs Bayern

Inter: New signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be fit to make the bench after returning to action last weekend, but this match comes too soon for Romelu Lukaku, who continues his rehab process following a thigh injury.

Bayern: Die Roten have recovered most of their players, with Leon Goretzka possibly getting involved here. However, Bouna Sarr remains out with a knee issue.