Prediction
Inter Milan vs Celtic – Inter to win 2-1, this really is a tough one to call. Both these teams are in really good form domestically but the away goal advantage will give Inter more of a freedom to take the game to Celtic and i see them winning this game in an another really good match.
Aggregate Score: – Celtic 3 -3 Inter Milan
Inter Milan
Xherdan Shaqiri scorers the first goal for Inter against Celtic in the Europa League 2nd leg (Eurosports).
Inter come into this match on the back of a 2-1 win over Cagliari in the Serie A. The win helped them move up to 8th in the table with 35 points from 24 games and just 5 points behind Lazio in 4th. It was also their third consecutive win in the league scoring 9 goals in the process.
Inter should have put this match out of Celtic’s reach in the first leg but it didn’t happen but they still do have the 3 away goals and will find comfort in that fact.
Inter are unbeaten in the all the 9 Europa League matches this season and have won 5 out of the last 6 games at the San Siro in the Europa League.
Jonathan Moreira, Yuto Nagatomo and Samir Handanovic are all in the long-term injury list of the club. The defensive pairing for Marco Andreolli and Danilo D’Ambrosio are doubtful for the clash against the Scottish champions.
Both Lukas Podolski and Marcelo Brozovic who featured in their 2-1 win over Cagliari will be unavailable for Inter as they are ineligible for the Europa League.
However Rodrigo Palacio who wasn’t even on the bench during their win against Cagliari will return to the starting 11.
Celtic
Stuart will be the key if Celtic hopes to overturn these 3 away goals (BBC)
The Scottish champions are leading the SPL title race with a three point lead over Aberdeen with a game in hand. They come into this match on the back of a 4-0 win over Hamilton Academical on Sunday.
Celtic will go into this clash with a major disadvantage after conceding three away goals in the first leg. Celtic simply said needs to win this game or produce another high scoring match were they will need to score at least three.
Celtic have never reached the quarter-finals of this competition after the 2003/04 season. Celtic are unbeaten in the last their last 11 games in all competitions and winning 9 of those.
Jason Denyaer should be fit for the clash versus Inter after leaving the game at halftime in their last match versus Hamilton Academical.
Past Meeting
1st leg
Their 1st leg clash at Celtic Park produced one of the games of this round. Inter raced to a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes through goals from Xherdan Shaqiri and Rodrigo Palacio. Celtic showed heart and fought back from 2 goals down to come level through a Stuart Armstrong strike in the 24th minute and a Hugo Campagnaro own goal in the 25th minute.
Inter would once again take the lead in the 45 minute through another Palacio goal. Just went the game was set to end in an Inter Victory Celtic equalised once more through a brilliant Guidetti Strike in the 90th minute.
If the 2nd leg clash between these two are half as good as the first leg then it’s going to be a cracker.
At San Siro
Last time these two teams met at the San Siro was back in 1972 where the match ended in a goalless draw.
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