Inter vs. Eintracht: Stats and trivia

MILAN - Following our 0-0 draw in Frankfurt, Inter will now host Eintracht at the Meazza in the second leg of our Europa League last 16 encounter on Thursday 21st. In collaboration with Opta, here are all the relevant stats and trivia.

The first stat will certainly please Inter: on 62 percent of occasions (16 out of 26) that a team has drawn 0-0 away from home in the first leg of a UEFA Europa League knockout fixture, they’ve then qualified. Furthermore, the Meazza has proven to be a fortress for the Nerazzurri so far in Europe, who’ve not lost at home in six games (four wins and two draws). Another positive for Inter in Europe is that they’ve progressed in each of their last five knockout matches in Europe after drawing the first leg away from home.

Inter are currently enjoying a great spell in defence. Handanovic recently achieved his 100th Nerazzurri clean sheet, a figure that’s already now risen to 101. The Nerazzurri have also kept a clean sheet in each of their last three European fixtures, not achieving a better defensive record in a single season since 1991 – preliminary rounds excluded. They then went five games without conceding under Trapattoni, in a campaign that ended with UEFA Cup success. Inter are the only team not to have conceded a single goal in this season’s UEFA Europa League knockout round. As for Inter’s offensive play, Politano has been a key player of late, scoring three of Inter’s last seven goals in all competitions.

In looking at the opposition, Eintracht Frankfurt have lost just one of their last 20 games in the Europa League/UEFA Cup (12 wins, seven draws), namely since November 2013 away against Maccabi Tel Aviv (2-4). They have also scored at least one goal in each of their last 11 away games (22 goals in total), while they’ve also registered the most shots (53) since the start of the Europa League knockout stages.

Focusing specifically on Eintracht’s Filip Kostic, no other player attempted more crosses in the Europa League season apart from Davide Zappacosta (both level on 44).