Unbeaten Inter Milan will visit pointless Young Boys on Wednesday evening, as both teams resume their Champions League campaign.
Heading into the clubs' meeting at Stadion Wankdorf, three-time European champions Inter have picked up four points without conceding a goal, while their hosts have endured a nightmare start to the new league phase.
Match preview
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Following a commendable opening-day draw at Manchester City midway through last month, Inter secured their first Champions League win of the season by beating Red Star Belgrade 4-0 at San Siro a fortnight later.
Keeping faith with much of the squad that reached the 2023 final, coach Simone Inzaghi is banking on experience to navigate a way through to the knockout rounds, as his starting XIs so far have made Inter the only club with an average age above 30.
Since beginning their first Champions League campaign under Inzaghi in 2021, they have kept more clean sheets than anyone else - including four in their last five outings - and a safety-first approach has formed the basis of their recent European adventures.
Though they have recently started to leak goals in Serie A - where they also score at a rate of more than two goals per game - the Nerazzurri recently bounced back from derby defeat to AC Milan by winning three domestic games, in addition to seeing off Red Star.
All told, Inter have lost just once in ten matches this season, and they head for Bern on the back of beating Roma in a close-fought contest on Sunday evening: Lautaro Martinez blasted home the decisive strike at the end of a rapid counter-attack.
However, the Scudetto holders are without a win from their last three Champions League road trips, so Inzaghi will demand an end to that drought at Stadion Wankdorf.
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Young Boys must surely prepare for their first competitive meeting with Inter in some trepidation, as events this season suggest that even home advantage may not help them keep their Italian counterparts at arm's length.
The Swiss champions are one of eight teams to have lost both of their first two Champions League fixtures, while conceding eight goals in the process: last time out, they were thumped 5-0 by Barcelona at Montjuic, two weeks after a humbling home defeat to Aston Villa.
Their second setback left them last in the 36-team standings, already with a mountain to climb in order to qualify for the playoffs.
Both defeats were characterised by slow starts: five of the goals Young Boys have conceded came during the first half, and no other team has shipped more before the break.
Only Inter's last victims, Red Star, have lost more of their first 20 Champions League fixtures than the Bern club (13), and even their previously dominant domestic form has suffered this term.
The reigning champions have won just two of their first 10 Swiss Super League matches, and they recently parted company with former boss Patrick Rahmen. Under-21s coach Joel Magnin has since stepped in on an interim basis, leading YB to a 2-1 win over former leaders Luzern at the weekend.
Team News
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Despite leaving Rome with three points on Sunday evening, Inter may be counting the cost of their victory, as both Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi were withdrawn with apparent muscular injuries.
As Calhanoglu is likely to miss the trip to Switzerland, Simone Inzaghi will hope that fellow midfielders Kristjan Asllani and Piotr Zielinski can recover, particularly with one eye on Sunday's Derby d'Italia against Juventus.
Inzaghi has rotated his forwards of late, so Mehdi Taremi or Marko Arnautovic may be brought into the visitors' starting XI, but in-form striker Marcus Thuram and captain Lautaro Martinez are the men in possession.
The latter now needs just one more goal to become the Nerazzurri's all-time non-Italian top scorer, while his strike against Red Star took him within one of Adriano (14) as the club's leading Champions League marksman.
Meanwhile, Young Boys have several attacking options to choose from, but Joel Monteiro has been their most productive player this season, and the Swiss winger joined Cedric Itten on the scoresheet against Luzern.
Stand-in boss Joel Magnin brought six new players into the starting XI compared to YB's loss in Basel just before the international break, and more changes could be in store versus Inter.
Saidy Janko (muscular), Patric Pfeiffer (knee) and Tanguy Zoukrou (hip) will all miss Wednesday's game due to injury.
Young Boys possible starting lineup:
Van Ballmoos; Athekame, Camara, Benito, Hadjam; Niasse, Lakomy; Monteiro, Ugrinic, Colley; Itten
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Bisseck, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Frattesi, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Taremi
We say: Young Boys 0-2 Inter Milan
Not only have Inter kept 10 clean sheets in their last 16 Champions League matches, but they also boast a serious threat up front.
Given the recent woes of a struggling Young Boys side, the Italian champions should establish a lead before shutting up shop and conserving some energy for a huge league game at the weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
