Interviewed by the newspaper The Newspaperthe former defender Fabio Cannavaronow a coach, spoke about the new Champions League and the ambitions of the Italian teams in the running: “The new formula is a bit confusing at first because it is something new but it offers the possibility of proposing more challenges between teams of great appeal and technical level. The previous one was perhaps too rigid and perhaps predictable in the final stages of the groups”.
How do our teams get to the competition?
“Bologna and Milan seem to be struggling in the league and I think they will also pay the price in the Champions League. The other three are more tested and ready. Inter is the most well-oiled and structured. And it is no coincidence that they are considered the super favourites of the league”.
INTER’S CALENDAR
September 18th at 9pm
Manchester City – Inter
October 1st at 9pm
Inter-Red Star
October 23rd at 9pm
Young Boys-Inter
November 6th at 9pm
Inter vs Arsenal
November 26th at 9pm
Inter – RB Leipzig
December 10th at 9pm
Bayer Leverkusen – Inter
January 22nd at 9pm
Sparta Prague – Inter
January 29th at 9pm
Inter – Monaco
INTER’S OPPONENTS
ManCity
The return of Gundogan and the farewell of Julian Alvarez, but above all the permanence of Guardiola on the bench and of the bomber Haaland in attack. The steamroller Manchester City has restarted from here, from the usual certainties, with the objective – it is certainly not new at the Etihad Stadium – of lifting the most coveted cup in Europe. Also because, in terms of titles, the season did not start in the best way with the 2-1 defeat in the FA Cup final against their cousins United.
The ideal formation – ManCity (3-4-2-1): Ederson; Gvardiol, Dias, Akanji; Foden, Rodri, Gundogan, Grealish; Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne; Haaland. Coach: Guardiola.
Red Star
Seven consecutive victories in the Serbian championship are not enough. This seems to be the slogan of Mister Milojevic’s Red Star, who after eliminating Bodo Glimt in the playoffs is ready to honor its glorious international past with suggestive events such as the one at the Scala del Calcio (the fact of not playing in the hell of Marakana is a fair advantage for Inter). All this, even if the market has not particularly smiled on the red and whites, given the illustrious departures of Bukari and Stamenic.
The ideal formation – Red Star (4-2-3-1): Ilic; Mimovic, Djiga, Spajic, Seol; Elsnik, Hwang; Ilic, Ivanic, Olayinka; Bruno Duarte. Coach: Milojevic.
Young Boys
A trip to Switzerland for Inter, who will face Young Boys coached by Mister Rahmen. A challenge that should not be taken lightly, given that Monteiro and his teammates managed to eliminate the more highly rated Galatasaray in the playoffs. In the ideal formation of the yellow and blacks, among other things, there is also room for the Gambian talent who arrived from Atalanta, Ebrima Colley.
The ideal formation – Young Boys (4-2-3-1): Keller; Blum, Camara, Zoukrou, Hadjam; Lauper, Niasse; Monteiro, Ugrinic, Colley; Ganvoula. Coach: Rahmen.
Arsenal
Riccardo Calafiori for 45 million, Mikel Merino for 32 and David Raya for 31, in addition to the loans of Sterling and Neto. Mister Arteta’s Arsenal has strengthened its squad quite a bit, a squad that had already been able to reach second place in the 2023-2024 Premier League (second only to the steamroller Manchester City). Quality and a greater quantity of choices, therefore, to continue to fight for the title of champion of England yes, but also to return to writing pages of history in international football. With mister Arteta still firmly at the helm.
The ideal formation – Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli. Coach: Arteta.
RB Leipzig
23 million for the full-back Geertruida, 21 for the winger Nusa, 10 for the goalkeeper Vandevoordt, another 10 for the central midfielder Oueadraogo, without forgetting the loan renewal of the young phenomenon Xavi Simons, but also the illustrious sales of Dani Olmo and Simakan between midfield and defence. After the fourth place of the last Bundesliga, RB Leipzig has started a small revolution as usual. The coach and the strikers remain the same: respectively, Marco Rose and the tandem Sesko-Openda (46 goals between them last year).
The ideal formation – RB Leipzig (4-4-2): Gulacsi; Simakan, Orban, Lukeba, Raum; Haidara, Seiwald, Kampl, Simons; Openda, Sesko. Coach: Rose.
Bayer-Leverkusen
After dominating the last German championship and dreaming until the end of winning the Europa League, the Aspirins are candidates to be one of the outsiders of this edition of the Champions League. The big move of the summer was undoubtedly the permanence of coach Xabi Alonso, who rightfully saw his market requests satisfied with the arrivals of Aleix Garcia, Martin Terrier, Jeanuel Belocian and Nordi Mukiele, in addition to retaining his main stars.
The ideal formation – Bayer-Leverkusen (3-4-2-1): Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Xhaka, Andrich, Grimaldo; Adli, Wirtz; Boniface. Coach: Xabi Alonso.
Sparta Prague
Among the European away games scheduled, Inter will also fly to Prague to face Sparta, fresh from a playoff win against the Swedish team Malmo. Mister Friis’ team has an old acquaintance of Italian football in attack, Haraslin, who played for Parma and Sassuolo, but above all they have secured the jewel Vitik in defense and bomber Birmancevic up front (22 goals last year).
The ideal formation – Sparta Prague (3-4-3): Vindahl-Jensen; Vitik, Panak, Sorensen; Wiesner, Laci, Kairinen, Rynes; Birmancevic, Olatunji, Haraslin. Coach: Friis.
Monk
The second force of the last Ligue 1 wants to return to greatness also at European level, but without ever losing its nature. This explains the purchase of Ilenikhena, child prodigy paid almost 20 million euros and ready to support bomber Embolo in attack. There was no shortage of reinforcements in other departments either with defenders Mawissa (16 million) and Kehrer (11 million), full-back Teze (10 million) and midfielder Lamine Camara (15 million), even if the sale of Fofana to Milan left a big void in midfield.
The ideal formation – Monk (4-2-3-1): Kohn; Anderson, Kehrer, Salisu, Jakobs; Zakaria, Camara; Akliouche, Minamino, Ben Seghir; Embolo. Coach: Hutter.