Inter won 2-1 in the first leg in Germany, but the tie against Bayern is yet to be decided
Bayern Munich will attempt a comeback in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals after the German giants lost 2-1 to Inter last week at the Allianz Arena in Munich. The team coached by former Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany will have a challenging task to come back and win at the San Siro stadium, one of the most difficult places to play soccer due to the home crowd and pressure. Bayern will have to do it without some key players that will miss the second leg in Milan, including German legend Manuel Neuer, striker Jamal Musiala and Canadian left-back Alphonso Davies, who are all injured and won’t make it for the second game. It’s clear that Bayern Munich have to face some challenges, as they also take on one of the best teams around Europe and contenders to win it all. Here’s why Bayern Munich can believe a comeback is on the cards.
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Inter’s defensive issues
It seems contradictory because the Nerazzurri only conceded three goals so far in the 11 games played in the 2024-25 edition of the Champions League, when they only lost once against Bayer Leverkusen during the league phase, but the team coached by Simone Inzaghi has recently been showing some defensive issues. Not for the goals conceded but they only ended two games in the last 10 played with a clean sheet, despite the fact Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer is currently leading around Europe for games with most clean sheets between the league and the European tournaments (20 in 41 games). Inter have a strong defense, especially outside their domestic league, but they are showing some flaws over the past two months, something that a striker like Harry Kane and a team like Bayern Munich can see as an opportunity ahead of the second leg. However, Bayern and Kane, in particular, can’t really miss the chances as he did back in Munich.
Inzaghi struggling with rotations
Bayern Munich are definitely struggling with injuries, but Inter are also having some issues with two key players injured like winger Denzel Dumfries and midfielder Piotr Zieliski, which are preventing Inter manager Inzaghi to make the rotations he was used to ahead of this challenging month. Zielinski, in particular, started in six Champions League games, basically all the ones until he suffered a calf injury that should force him out until the end of the current month. He was considered a key player in the Champions League matches for Inter, as Inzaghi liked to rotate his players a lot, especially during the league phase. The absence of Dumfries also give some problems to the Italian manager, who is forced to play Italian winger Matteo Darmian much more than before, as he started four of the last five Inter games, apart from the last home match against Cagliari only because former AS Roma Nicola Zalewski was back in the squad and fully fit to be included in the starting lineup.
The schedule of both teams
The schedule this month is definitively a factor as Inter need to face Bayern Munich before a key Serie A game on Sunday when the Nerazzurri will play Bologna away, with Napoli facing Monza before Inter will meet AC Milan next week in San Siro for the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals. Inter seem to be lacking energy also due to the schedule, which is forcing Inter to play every three days while Bayern Munich are now six points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen with five matchdays left before the end of the 2024-25 season.
