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Real Madrid and Inter Milan meet for the first time since 1998 as the Alfredo di Stefano stadium hosts a potential Champions League classic on Tuesday.
Both teams are winless in Group B after two games and the next pair of games will be absolutely crucial for them and their knock-out round hopes.
Expect fireworks over these two legs between the European powerhouses, however, here's why Real Madrid could struggle against Inter Milan tonight:
5 reasons why Real Madrid could struggle against Inter Milan
#1 Real Madrid's poor home record in Europe
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There were several factors behind Real Madrid's recent success in the Champions League, with one of the most important being an excellent record at home. In each of the title-winning years between 2014 and 2018, Los Blancos proved incredibly overwhelming to play against on their turf, winning 20 out of 24 fixtures in the Spanish capital, losing just twice.
The fabled Santiago Bernabeu was an indomitable fortress that even the mightiest sides of the continent found hard to conquer, but since the last two years or so, that aura of 'invincibility' has been severely punctured.
Real Madrid have now won only three of their last nine home games since the 2018/19 season and lost four, including this campaign's opener to Shakhtar Donetsk at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium.
Inter Milan will be aware of this and will come to Madrid hoping to get something off from this fixture.
#2 No consistency in defense
En route to lifting the La Liga trophy in the summer, Real Madrid proved to be one of the meanest sides in Europe. However, defensive issues have cropped up again this season, and they have crept into European games too.
Shakhtar netted thrice against a makeshift Madrid backline inside the first 45 minutes, with Sergio Ramos absent, and Ferland Mendy playing out of position on the right.
So against Gladbach, Zidane shifted the Frenchman back into his natural position on the left and was also bolstered by the return of the talismanic skipper, only to see his side fall 2-0 behind the Bundesliga outfit by the hour mark.
Clearly, this side is plagued with defensive concerns, as a matter of fact, the Whites haven't kept a clean sheet in any of the last five games in all competitions. The Nerazzurri, who've scored six times from the last four games, smell blood in the waters.
#3 Lack of options at the right-back
One particular area in the Real Madrid defense which Zidane will fret over is the right-back slot because the team is seriously running short of options, and do not have any natural player in that position available right now.
At the start of the campaign, Los Blancos were spoilt for choice, with Achraf Hakimi, Alvaro Odriozola, Daniel Carvajal, and Nacho, all in the squad. However, Hakimi left for Inter in July, while the other three are currently injured.
Lucas Vazquez, a right-winger by trade, was shoehorned into this position for some recent games, but he picked up a muscle injury in Saturday's clash and is now doubtful for today.
This compelled Zidane to bring up right-back Sergino Santos from the Castilla squad, and to make matters worse, he tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, literally opening the proverbial Pandora's Box.
#4 Questions remain over Real Madrid's attack
While they are not as pressing as that in the defense, but Los Blancos have some questions to answer in the attacking vanguard too.
With three goals in the last two games, Benzema is slowly getting back into form, but he needs proper service to truly make an impact - he was kept quiet by Shakhtar and then nullified by Gladbach until his goal in the dying moments.
On his left is Vinicius Junior, who's been highly erratic this season. He scored a wonderful goal against Shakhtar but was poor in the next three games, and the less said about Marco Asensio the better.
Zidane will be boosted by the return to Eden Hazard though, who even scored his first goal at the weekend, but will need to get his attack in sync to score a handful of goals.
#5 Inter Milan desperate to get into last-16
Inter Milan marched all the way to the finals of the Europa League last summer, but that wasn't before getting knocked out in the group stages of the Champions League for the second consecutive time. They finished behind Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur in the 2018/19 season and then behind Barcelona (again) and Borussia Dortmund the following year.
The Nerazzurri would be keen to get third time lucky and progress into the knock-out rounds, the hopes of which will be bolstered by a big result here. They're currently a point above Real Madrid but remain third in the group and Antonio Conte will set his side out to pile further pressure on their hosts with the San Siro leg still to come.
