Not a match that defending champions Inter Milan need to win in Holland on Tuesday and I’m happy to oppose them at odds on.
Under the guidance of Jose Mourinho 12 months ago, Inter were always one of the teams to be feared in the Champions League and as soon as the Italians got the better of Barcelona in the semi-finals there was only ever going to be one winner of the famous trophy.
Lead superbly by Diego Milito, the striker scored both goals in the 2-0 triumph over Bayern Munich in the showpiece, Inter mastered knockout football at the very highest level but plenty of that was down to the Special One and his tactics and whether or not they’ll be quiet so effective this time around is open to debate.
Now with Rafael Benitez in the San Siro hot seat, a Champions League-winning manager himself with Liverpool, Inter are still to be respected but I expect the English clubs and the big two in Spain to dominate once again and the Serie A reigning champions have no easy task qualifying from Group A.
Drawn with Tuesday’s opponents FC Twente, Tottenham Hotspur and Werder Bremen, each match is bound to prove competitive and an opening day point against the Eredivisie side would suit Benitez’s boys.
Inter face an FC Twente team that did magnificently under former coach Steve McLaren to repel the challenge of free-scoring Ajax to land top honours in Holland in the Spring and their success was based on a wonderful home record.
Twente won all but one of their 17 matches at De Grolsch Veste, losing just twice all season in the top flight, and now with Michel Preud’homme in charge have resumed the current campaign in much the same form.
It’s three wins and two draws from their opening five matches and despite losing forward Blaise Nkufo during the summer the signing of Austrian Marc Janko to fill the void seems a good one.
The former Salzburg man has three goals to his name already for his new club and he’ll be hoping to team up effectively with Bryan Ruiz, who smashed 24 goals for Twente last season, in attack.
In what is sure to be played in front of a capacity 24,000 crowd for Twente’s Champions League debut, it will take a brave man to bet against the hosts despite the gulf in class and we saw time and again during his reign at Anfield that Benitez doesn’t always place the emphasis on trying to find a breakthrough.
With five further group matches to follow, this is a game neither will want to lose but it is hard to imagine Twente not playing on the front foot and they could just surprise the visitors, especially if getting off to a fast start.
Inter laboured to an opening day goalless draw against Bologna and were far from impressive on the weekend despite getting the better of Udinese.
1pt Lay Inter (vs. Twente) @ 1.98 (Betfair)