EURO EXPRESS | The talking points ahead of Inter vs. Shakhtar Donetsk

MILAN – Ahead of Inter’s fixture against Shakhtar Donetsk on matchday six in Group B of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League, Euro Express, our series dedicated to European football, is back. With the match against Luis Castro’s side coming up on Wednesday, we’ve identified five talking points relating to the match: the last encounter between the sides, previous clashes, a direct line between Milan and Madrid… and more.

DÉJÀ VU FOR SHAKHTAR

Wednesday’s match won’t be the first time that Shakhtar have played in front of an empty San Siro: they did so in the third qualifying round of the Champions League on 24 August 2005. After a 2-0 Nerazzurri win in Ukraine, no spectators were present as Recoba gave Inter the lead prior to Elano’s equaliser. Thanks to a 3-1 aggregate win, the Nerazzurri qualified for the group stage of the 2005/06 Champions League.

INTER VS. UKRAINIAN SIDES

Inter have played four matches against Ukrainian sides in Milan, beating Dynamo Kyiv in 2003 and Dnipro in 2014 and drawing the other two encounters against Shakhtar in August 2005 and Dynamo Kyiv in 2009 (goals from Stankovic and Samuel).

SHAKHTAR IN ITALY: TWELVE PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS

With just two victories in twelve matches, Shakhtar only have a win percentage rate of 16% in Italy, with two draws and eight defeats completing the picture. Furthermore, they’ve conceded 31 goals on Italian soil, an average of 2.58 per game.

A GOALLESS DRAW IN THE LAST MEETING

During the previous encounter between the two sides, a match which finished in a 0-0 draw, Inter hit the woodwork twice in the first half in Kyiv, first through Barella’s right-footed strike from the edge of the box and then through Lukaku, whose left-footed free kick forced Trubin into an exceptional save. The last time this happened was when Inter faced Ajax in 2006.

GROUP B: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

The situation in Group B makes the final matchday a very exciting prospect: anything could happen and every side can still progress. In order to make it through to the last 16, Inter need to win and hope that the other group game between Real Madrid and Borussia Mönchengladbach doesn’t finish in a draw.