Champions League preview: Inter Milan’s home team has been unbeaten for 1,150 days in the European war, and Kairat’s attack is weak
6686 Sports News on November 5th, at 4 am Beijing time on the 6th, in the fourth round of the UEFA Champions League, Inter Milan will play at home against the Kazakh team Kairat.
The current situation of the home team
Inter Milan has been in good competitive form recently. In the 8th round of Serie A, Inter Milan lost 1-3 away to Naples. After ending the 7-game winning streak in both teams, the team has returned to the right track in the past 2 Serie A games. First, it defeated Fiorentina 3-0 and then defeated Verona 2-1 with the last shot in stoppage time last weekend. It once again formed a winning streak and won 9 wins in the past 10 games. At the same time, in the Champions League, Inter Milan is one of the five teams that has won the first three games.
Inter Milan’s home team support in the Champions League should not be underestimated. The last time the Nerazzurri lost a Champions League match at home was in September 2022 when they lost to Bayern. It has been more than 1,150 days since then. During this period, Inter Milan played a total of 17 games at home in the Champions League (whether in the group stage or knockout games), with a record of 14 wins and 3 draws and remains unbeaten.
"Gazzetta dello Sport" pointed out before the game: Inter Milan, a team that has reached the Champions League finals twice in the previous three seasons, aims to score at least 16-17 points in the Champions League stage, so as to reach the top 16 without playing play-offs and avoid risks. The first four opponents of the Nerazzurri in the Champions League are weak, and the last four opponents are very strong (the opponents are Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Borussia Dortmund). Therefore, Inter Milan hopes to get 12 points after four rounds to accumulate room for error for the upcoming tough schedule, and strive to score three-pointers in this round.
Away team's recent situation
As a new team in the Champions League, Kairat became the second Kazakh team to participate in the Champions League after Astana. This is only the third time that Kairat has qualified for the Champions League. The previous two times (2005-06 season, 2021-22 season) they returned home during the qualifying stage. The only time in history that the team participated in the main competition of the three major European Cups was the UEFA Europa League group stage in the 2021-22 season. They had 6 games in the group, 2 draws and 4 losses, and were eliminated at the bottom.
UEFA officials pointed out that Kairat's attack was weak - in their past 6 European games, they failed to score in 5 games. In these 6 games, Kairat lost 3 games and drew 3 games. The team's defensive performance is acceptable - they have been able to keep opponents clean in 5 of their past 8 European games (including qualifying matches). In short, Kairat has a total of 9 games in the three major European Cups, with 3 draws, 6 losses and no wins. They hope to become the first Kazakh team to win in the Champions League.
Before the game, Kairat defender Sorokin said: He is an Inter Milan fan and it is a dream come true to play against them. He said: "The important thing is to know how to wait for the opportunity and seize it when it appears. First of all, guard the goal, stop the opponent's attack, fight for every inch of space, and always stay focused."
Match results
The two teams have never met in the European competition in history, nor have they played against teams in their opponents' leagues.
Situation of the wounded
The soldiers of Kairat are relatively uniform. For Inter Milan, Mkhitaryan, Damian, and Di Gennaro continue to be absent, but Thuram has resumed training together for a few days before the game and is available to play.
