Inter v Atlético Madrid: Champions League last 16, first leg – live

Atléti are positively lukewarm by comparison. But then, with the exception of Manchester City, who wouldn’t be? Diego Simeone’s Colchoneros won five successive games towards the tail end of January, but then went three without victory before the aforementioned rout of Las Palmas. They’ve lost six of their last ten away matches, winning just three, a sequence that includes a 5-3 extra-time defeat by arch-rivals Real Madrid in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup. They’re fourth in La Liga, well off the pace set by their neighbours. They did fly through their Champions League group, mind.

Inter are the hottest team in Europe right now. The aforementioned win over Salernitana was their eighth straight in all competitions, and their sixth in Serie A. They’ve won 20 of their 24 league matches; their sole reverse was a 2-1 home defeat to Sassuolo back in September. That remains the only match they’ve lost in any competition this season. They swanned through the group stage without too much undue fuss, and won the Italian Super Cup last month. Life is fine for Simone Inzaghi and his Nerazzurri.

Inter make two changes to the XI selected to start the 4-0 Serie A win over Salernitana last Friday. Federico Dimarco and Matteo Darmian come in for Denzel Dumfries and Carlos Augusto, who both drop to the bench.

Atlético make four changes to their starting XI in the wake of last Saturday’s 5-0 La Liga victory over Las Palmas. Antoine Griezmann, Axel Witsel, Mario Hermoso and Rodrigo De Paul replace Ángel Correa, Stefan Savić, Reinildo and Pablo Barrios, all of whom drop to the bench.

Internazionale: Sommer, Pavard, de Vrij, Bastoni, Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco, Thuram, Martinez.
Subs: Dumfries, Arnautovic, Di Gennaro, Klaassen, Frattesi, Buchanan, Asllani, Carlos Augusto, Bisseck, Stankovic, Sanchez, Audero.

Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Molina, Witsel, Gimenez, Hermoso, Samuel Dias, Llorente, De Paul, Koke, Saul, Griezmann.
Subs: Moldovan, Gabriel, Depay, Correa, Savic, Riquelme, Vermeeren, Morata, Mandava, Barrios, Gomis.

Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania).

These two bona-fide giants of European football have only met once before. That was in the 2010 Super Cup, when second-half goals from José Antonio Reyes and Sergio Agüero gave Europa League winners Atlético a 2-0 victory over the new European champions Internazionale. Since then, both teams have had their heartbreak in the Champions League, Atlético losing the 2014 and 2016 finals to Real Madrid, Inter bested in last year’s showpiece by Manchester City. Atlético have at least had a couple of Europa League wins since, in 2012 and 2018, to sugar the pill, but both are jonesing for another shot at the ultimate prize. More misery is guaranteed for one of these teams, but which one? The first leg of this round-of-16 tie kicks off at 8pm GMT at San Siro, 9pm local time. It’s on!