Real Madrid vs. Inter Milan: Team Form, News, Stats & Match Prediction

Tomorrow night, at 21:00 CET, Real Madrid will begin their UEFA Champions League campaign, when they host Inter Milan on match day one of the league phase stage of the competition. It will be a very special game in particular for Jose Mourinho, whose final game in charge of Inter Milan was at the Bernabeu, where he won the 2010 Champions League final with a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich. Current Inter manager - Cristian Chivu - played 68 minutes of that game. No doubt they will have a nice embrace before and after the game. So, without further ado, let's preview the game for both sides. After a good start to the season, Real Madrid come into this game off the back of a frustrating 1-0 defeat away to Real Betis on Friday evening. Despite creating enough chances to win two or three games, the team were done by a later sucker punch from the hosts, and now already sit three points behind Barcelona in La Liga. Meanwhile, Inter come into the game having won their opening three games of the season. The last of which came at home to Napoli on Saturday evening, winning the game 3-2 having been 2-0 down in the 55th minute. So they had the exact same record as Real Madrid three games in, the difference simply being that Los Blancos have played one more league game, though Inter could win their fourth Serie A game this weekend. There will be quite a few players missing for Mourinho tomorrow. It is easy to forget the last Champions League game, the quarter final second leg against Bayern Munich in April, where Eduardo Camavinga and Arda Guler (after full time) were sent off, meaning they will be suspended for this one. Furthermore, in the round of 16 against Manchester City, when still playing for City, Bernardo Silva was sent off for a handball. Suspensions carry over across clubs, so he will also be suspended. Ferland Mendy and Raul Asensio remain injured, whilst Andriy Lunin did not train on Monday. As for Chivu's side, there are only two absences to worry about, though one is a very important one, as left wing-back Federico Dimarco will miss the game with a knee injury. His crossing ability from that left side cannot be overstated. He created 33 big chances in Serie A last season in just 35 games (30 starts). They are also set to be without new signing Djed Spence, who has a calf injury, so no England link up with Jude Bellingham and the man he kept out of the World Cup squad, Trent Alexander-Arnold. Though fellow Englishmen John Stones and Curtis Jones could play a part. Possible Real Madrid XI; Courtois; Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Valverde, Bellingham; Diomande, Diaz, Vinicius; Mbappe. Possible Inter starting XI; Martinez; Akanji, Bisseck, Bastoni; Diouf, Barella, Calhanoglu, Jones, Augusto; Thuram, Martinez. The last time the two sides met were in the group stage format of the competition, with Real Madrid winning 1-0 at San Siro, and 2-1 at home. As we know, with this new format, there is no return game. The two teams also met the year before in the group stage, with Los Blancos also winning both games that time round too. So, the four previous meeting this century have all yielded Real Madrid wins. Prediction: Real Madrid 2-1 Inter Milan Best Newest first Oldest first