Your comprehensive guide to the Inter and Porto match in the UEFA Champions League 2022/2023

The brilliant lights of the Champions Organization will beam on San Siro for the second week working on Wednesday evening, as Inter Milan host Porto in the very first leg of their last-16 connection.

Simone Inzaghi's men finished second in Team C to establish a tie with the Portuguese champions, that made use of their foes' faults to complete first in Group B.

7 days on from a/c Milan gleaning a slim advantage in their last-16 connection with Tottenham Hotspur, Inter will certainly endeavour to make lightning strike two times for the Lombardy stars on the San Siro grass, having actually ended up second in the fierce three-horse race to certify from Team C.

With Viktoria Plzen crossed out before the initial whistle and following the script by accumulating no factors in the group, Barcelona, Bayern Munich as well as Inter battled for continental superiority, as well as the Nerazzurri would border their Catalonian counterparts by 3 points to end up 2nd behind an excellent Bayern.

Since verifying their place in the Champions League knockout stages for the second event running - last year's course to magnificence ended at this phase to Liverpool - Inter have actually attempted to stop the Napoli juggernaut in Serie A, yet the Nerazzurri's attempts have actually proven useless up until now.

Inzaghi's side are the Partenopei's closest oppositions in second location in the table, but Napoli hold a monstrous 15-point lead over the 2020-21 champs, who saw off Udinese 3-1 at the weekend thanks to strikes from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Lautaro Martinez and also a long-awaited goal for Romelu Lukaku in the black and also blue - just his secondly of the Serie A season 189 days after his previous one.

Success over Udinese noted Inter's 12th win from their last 13 competitions at San Siro - throughout which time they have yielded a mere four objectives - yet a 1-0 loss to Empoli on January 23 confirms that the Nerazzurri are not invincible at the San Siro fortress.

A similar three-way defend last-16 berths was relatively on the cards when Porto, Atletico Madrid and also Bayer Leverkusen were drawn alongside each other in Team B, but Club Brugge upset the apple cart and made use of the frailties of the Spanish as well as German giants.

Sergio Conceicao's side were up against it after shedding both of their opening video games as well - including that 4-0 humiliation in the house to Brugge - however they continued to win each of their next four continental contests to progress as group champions ahead of the Belgian shock bundle.

Domestically, the reigning Primeira Liga champions have actually been absolutely nothing short of impeccable over the past a number of weeks - winning each of their last 10 games in all competitions - however they are unbelievably still playing catch-up in the title race to Benfica, that sit 2 factors clear on top with a video game in hand.

Braga additionally have just a two-point space to make up to second-placed Porto, that bordered Rio Ave 1-0 at the weekend thanks to a Toni Martinez initiative, as well as the visitors' very own protective acumen has actually seen them acknowledge just one goal in their last 8 suits.

The Dragons' unbeaten run across all competitions stands at a whopping 22 video games since loss to Benfica in October, and they have taken care of to progress from their last two last-16 ties in 2018-19 and also 2020-21, however the protection of their historic 2004 crown ended with a 4-2 aggregate loss to Inter at this stage.

Virtually honored with a complete complement of gamers, Inter instructor Inzaghi need to just be without upper leg target Joaquin Correa for the check out of Porto, however the Nerazzurri manager is facing fairly the attacking predicament in any case.

A well-rested Martinez can expect to go back to the two-man strikeforce in Inzaghi's 3-5-2 development, and also a reinvigorated Lukaku might simply slip by Edin Dzeko, despite the latter's 3 goals as well as help in the team phase.

The trio of Hakan Calhanoglu, Milan Skriniar as well as goalkeeper Andre Onana ought to likewise come into the fray after being relaxed at the weekend, compeling Matteo Darmian, Mkhitaryan and cunning veteran Samir Handanovic out of the XI.

On the other hand, Porto supervisor Conceicao is functioning around a small injury crisis for the journey to Italy, with every one of Evanilson, Fabio Cardoso, Gabriel Veron as well as Francisco Meixedo anticipated to miss out.

Mateus Uribe and also Galeno will certainly need examining however are additionally most likely to make the absentee list, and to make matters worse, Saturday's match-winner Martinez went down in the last couple of moments and also had to be replaced.

The severity of Martinez's problem is uncertain, however Danny Namaso will certainly be on standby, while both of Pepe's - the 39-year-old centre-back and also 25-year-old enemy - are both set to begin.

Inter Milan possible starting lineup:

Porto possible starting schedule:

We state: Inter Milan 1-0 Porto

Pitting two of Europe's tightest rearguards versus one another should undoubtedly lead to a closely-contested affair, as well as Porto have gotten over hardship with vigour throughout their injury situation.

Nonetheless, Conceicao's expanding health and fitness worries may eventually count against him at the San Siro fortress, where Inzaghi's side can break down the strong Dragons backline as well as end their site visitors' unbeaten touch to take a slim advantage to Portugal for the 2nd leg.