Inter Milan meets Schalke at home, in the first quarter final of Champions League on Tuesday.
The Italians eliminated Bayern Munich, another German club, after losing the first leg at home with 0:1, and miraculously reversing the match in Germany from 2:1 to 2:3.
Inter has the worst defensive record from the 8 teams that have qualified to this stage of the tournament, receiving 1.75 goals on the average. On top of that, starter defenders Lucio (suspended for this game) and Walter Samuel (injured) will miss the game. In fact, they missed the derby of Milano where Inter lost this Saturday to AC Milan with 0:3, and basically fell out of the battle for the title.
Inter’s defense was horrible in that game, consisting of Cristian Chivu, Javier Zanetti and Andrea Ranocchia. Chivu made some crucial mistakes, which lead to a goal, a penalty and a red card for the defender. Another possibility for Leonardo in the defense is vice-captain Iván Córdoba. The last time Inter met Schalke was on 3rd of March 1998 in the UEFA Cup where Inter won with 2:1.
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Schalke had a great game on Friday against St.Pauli, a game that abandoned in the 89th minute, due to an object flying off the fans and hitting the side referee. Schalke was leading at that point with 2:0, and St.Pauli had already 2 red cards. Still all bets were voided, but the German Football Federation will most likely reward a victory for Schalke.
A surprising event occurred in the German club, after the elimination of Valencia. Manager Felix Magath was sacked, for reasons beyond explanation, but it’s fact and the club runs now with a new manager Ralf Rangnick, the former Hoffenheim manager. Schalke has never qualified for a semi-final in Champions League, and are hoping to do so this year.
An interesting fact here is that no team has scored twice in a game against Schalke in the last 15 Champions League games.
I find this game as interesting as it can get. Obviously with very minimal chances for the title in Serie A, Inter will hope to make it at least to the semi-final of Champions League. After the derby loss on Saturday, Inter will want to bounce back with a victory here on San Siro. We shouldn’t expect a lot of goals so the Under 2.5 Goals bet priced at 1.75 seems like a good betting option here.
My prediction would be that Inter has learned from their previous mistake on San Siro against Bayern and would be more careful this game. Despite the huge hole in defense something that was obvious in the game with Inter, I believe Leonardo will want the victory from the first leg. My tip, go for the home victory. Good luck betting.
Recommended Bet:
Inter to win @ 1.57 
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