We return to the Champions League on Wednesday with a visit to one of European football’s most famous clubs and stadiums when we take on Inter Milan at San Siro.

Incredibly, this will only be the third competitive meeting between the teams, as we face possibly our biggest challenge of the league stage with a tough trip to the home of the reigning Italian champions.

Ahead of the match, we’ve compiled everything you need to know about our past and present opponents before they face us in Milan:

History

Football Club Internazionale was founded in March 1908 by a group of players who left the Milan Cricket and Football Club (now AC Milan) because they wanted to accept more foreigners – hence the name of the club which comes from international. They immediately joined Serie A and have remained there ever since – the only club to boast this honour.

The first of 20 league titles came in just their second season, and they enjoyed many successes in the 1930s, led by goals from all-time top scorer Giuseppe Meazza, after whom they were named at the San Siro. A golden period arrived in the 1960s, when they won three Serie A titles in four years, as well as back-to-back European and Intercontinental Cups.

However, only three more league titles and two Coppa Italias would come in the last 30 years of the 20th century, and in 1993/94 they avoided relegation by a single point, but still won one of three UEFA Cups over the decade. Their fortune and five consecutive titles were achieved between 2006 and 2010, culminating in becoming the first Italian team to win the treble under the management of Jose Mourinho.

His departure sparked a decade of decline that saw them go six seasons without Champions League football, but Antonio Conte helped them become one of the country’s premier teams again, winning the title in 2021 before a 20th was added last season.

The stadium

One of the most iconic stadiums in world football, the San Siro was inaugurated in 1926 when Inter beat owners AC Milan 6-3. They shared the stadium from 1947 and, before the 1990 World Cup, its famous spiral towers and red roof were added to increase the capacity to 80,000 today.

In addition to this World Cup final, it has also hosted matches from the 1934 edition, Euro 1980 and four European Cup/Champions League finals, the last in 2016. It will also host the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, but speculation continues. swirling around its future after the two Milan clubs unveiled plans to build a new stadium on the outskirts of the city.

The manager

Simone Inzaghi has been Inter boss since June 2021. He enjoyed a remarkable playing career which saw him play for Lazio for 11 years, winning one Serie A title, three Coppa Italias and one Super Cup. UEFA, and winning three caps for his country, including a partner. his brother, AC Milan legend Filippo, in attack.

Simone started coaching Lazio’s youth teams in 2010 and got the coaching job six years later. He won a Coppa Italia, two Supercoppas and took them back to the Champions League before replacing Conte at Inter, where cup success continued. He came close to winning Europe’s top prize, but saw his team beaten by Manchester City in the 2023 final. However, Inter bounced back to win a 20th Serie A championship last season.

Last season

After finishing second and third in his first two seasons, Inzaghi’s side finished top in 2023/24 to add a second Scudetto star to their jersey, becoming only the second Italian team to win 20 titles, behind Juventus.

It was a dominant campaign, with Inter winning 18 of 20 matches between October and March, leaving everyone in their wake, and they clinched the title with five matches remaining, beating AC Milan 2-1 at San Siro, to finally finish. 17 points ahead of second place.

They have scored the most goals in Serie A, with Lautaro Martinez netting 24, while also possessing the stingiest defense. The Supercoppa was won with a 1-0 victory over Napoli, but an early Coppa Italia exit to Bologna was followed by a Champions League round of 16 exit on penalties to Atletico Madrid.

The team

Martinez has been Inter’s main goal threat since his arrival in 2018 and recently scored his 134th goal as the club became the all-time top foreign scorer. He captains a team that also includes French international striker Marcus Thuram and Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu, who both scored two league goals last season.

No club received more call-ups for Euro 2024 last summer than Inter’s 13, including Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer, Frenchman Benjamin Pavard, Dutch defensive duo Stefan de Vrij and Denzel Dumfries and five Italian representatives – full-backs Federico Dimarco and Matteo Darmian. , central defender Alessandro Bastoni and midfielders Nicolo Barella and Davide Frattesi.

Francesco Acerbi won Euro 2020 with the Azzurri, while former Gunner Henrikh Mkhitaryan (above) has been a regular with Inzaghi for two seasons. Marko Arnautovic will also be a familiar face from his previous stints in the Premier League, and Polish great Piotr Zielinski left Napoli this summer.

The season so far

The reigning champions have struggled early this season, winning just two of their first five Serie A matches, including a 2-1 defeat to their neighbors, marking their first derby day defeat in the last six meetings.

However, they recovered from that setback by winning five of the last six league matches and sharing a 4-4 draw with Juventus. A 1-0 win over Venezia on Sunday moved them to within one point of league leaders Napoli.

In the Champions League, they began the league phase with a goalless draw at Manchester City, before beating Red Star Belgrade 4-0. However, they needed a stoppage-time strike from this season’s top scorer, Thuram. (above) to beat Young Boys in Switzerland and join us with seven points from their first three matches.

History

It will be the first time we face the Nerazzurri since one of our greatest European nights in our history, when we won 5-1 at San Siro in the 2003/04 group stage, avenging a 3-0 defeat at Highbury first – a meeting of the parties in September 2003.

But two months later, Thierry Henry gave us the lead before a deflected shot from Christian Vieri put the hosts back on level terms. After the restart, Freddie Ljungberg gave us the lead again before some solo magic from Henry made it 3-1, and late strikes from Edu and Robert Pires sealed a historic victory.