Champions League Preview: Inter’s Stability Not as Strong as Last Season, Red Star Dominates League and Can Focus on European Campaign

At 3:00 AM on October 2, in the second round of the 2024/25 Champions League season, Inter Milan will host visiting Red Star Belgrade at home. In the first round of the Champions League, Inter Milan and Manchester City drew a blank, but Inter Milan was the better performing team in that match. Red Star Belgrade lost 1-2 to Benfica, failing to secure an opening victory.

The previous league round saw Inter Milan defeat Udinese 3-2. The once impenetrable defense conceded 7 goals after 6 rounds, and Sommer is no longer the most reliable presence in front of the goal. Before the start of the new season, many observers and analysts were optimistic about Inter Milan’s prospects for defending their Serie A title. However, after 6 rounds, Inter Milan faced challenges both from themselves and from their opponents. Napoli and Juventus, both starting anew, have shown a different spirit than before. The loss in the Milan Derby allowed their local rivals to stabilize and regain the opportunity to become a stumbling block in front of them. Club chairman Marotta has already stated that the team needs to make a breakthrough in the Champions League this season. Perhaps this is the reason they haven’t given their all in the league.

In the European arena, Red Star Belgrade may have become a nobody, but in the Serbian league, Red Star stands alone. After 9 rounds, with 8 wins and 1 draw, Red Star has almost settled the championship suspense before the season is even a third over. In the first round of the Champions League, Red Star played aggressively at home, creating 15 scoring opportunities throughout the game, but unfortunately only scored one goal. Benfica had 10 attempts and scored 2 goals. Their failure to take down the opponent could be attributed to a bit of bad luck. Given the team’s strength, aiming for a direct promotion spot in the top 8 is too unrealistic, but if they want to break into the top 24, they absolutely cannot afford to lose matches where they have a chance to secure 3 points.

According to statistics, the two teams met twice before the Champions League reform, with Inter winning 1 and drawing 1, remaining undefeated. But that was as far back as 1981, 43 years ago. Over the years, Inter gradually recovered, while Red Star lost its former glory. Before the game, La Gazzetta dello Sport published a column analyzing the match. The newspaper believes that Red Star dominates the Serbian league, while Inter are favorites to win the Serie A title. The ferocity of Red Star can be attributed to Senegalese international N’Diaye, who leads the Serbian league with 7 goals. In the first round against Benfica, Red Star simply lost to experience and individual player ability. Therefore, Red Star may only appear weak on paper, and Inter must not be complacent.

In the first match against Manchester City, despite the score being 0-0, the process of the game and the content Inter showed during the match filled the entire team with optimism about their Champions League prospects this season. Simeone’s strategy successfully made Inter the second team to keep a clean sheet against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in European competition.

At the pre-match press conference, Inter coach Simeone said, “Inter lacks the continuity it had last season. This season, all teams have encountered various difficulties, but everyone is trying to solve these problems. Additionally, focus is very important for a team, and the two goals we conceded against Udinese highlight this issue.” He also briefly described his personnel arrangements at the press conference. “Due to Barella’s injury, we will assess whether Frattesi can start, Zielinski can play.” In the league over the weekend, Lautaro finally broke his goal drought, and the Argentine’s timely return to form may lead to consecutive goals in this match.

On the Red Star side, two injured players did not travel with the team to Milan, namely Lusic and Miovic. Also noteworthy is Slovenian midfielder Ajrsnic, who performed well against Benfica in the first game. He can create opportunities for teammates and actively participate in defense.

As Inzaghi said, the current Inter lacks continuity and needs to improve focus, for which they have already paid a heavy price in several games. Although Red Star Belgrade wields power and prestige in their domestic league, in the Champions League, they are still seen as easy targets. However, history shows that there are countless examples of underdogs defeating favorites, so Inter must proceed with caution to avoid an upset.

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