Champions League
2025-01-29 - Inter Milan vs Monaco
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Champions League Group Stage
Wednesday 29th January 2025 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Inter Milan
Finishing in the top eight of the Champions League table is clearly a target for Inter Milan to move directly into the Last 16 of the competition. In recent years this has been the club most likely to win this competition playing in Italy, but Inter Milan were disappointingly Knocked Out early last season having finished Runners Up in 2023.
Once again home hopes rest with Inter Milan and they are 4th in the Champions League standings and knowing one more point is needed to guarantee a top eight finish. It has been a strong performance through the League Phase of the Champions League, but Inter Milan have only scored 8 goals in seven matches and that will need to be improved if they are going to win the trophy for the first time since 2010.
Inter Milan are unbeaten in 5 games in all competitions and have won 4 of those since the 2-3 defeat to rivals AC Milan in the Italian Super Cup earlier this month. Home form has been strong for Inter Milan who have won 6 of their last 7 games at the San Siro in all competitions.
Monaco
A battling home win over Aston Villa on Match Day 7 of the Champions League has given Monaco an opportunity to push through to the Last 16 of the competition by finishing in the top eight. It has almost certainly secured a Seeded place in the Play Off Round of the Knock Outs to be played next month at the very least, but Monaco may just want more.
They are 10th in the Champions League standings, but a 0-2 win in Milan would actually mean Monaco are guaranteed to finish above Inter in the standings. Depending on other results, that could be enough for Monaco to secure a top eight spot so there is plenty of motivation for this squad when travelling on Wednesday.
Monaco had won 1 of their previous 8 games in all competitions before beating Aston Villa and they followed up with a League win over Rennes this past weekend. The side will now and turn things around away from home with a single win in 8 on their travels in all competitions and that against a lower League club in France. Monaco have lost half of those 8 away games in all competitions.
Head to Head
Inter Milan have won 3 and Monaco have won once in their 4 previous competitive matches.
The first two ties were played in 1963 in the European Cup, while the most recent matches between Inter Milan and Monaco were played in the 1997 UEFA Cup Semi Final.
Inter Milan have won both previous home games against Monaco.
Prediction
The idea of the new Champions League format was to ensure that there would be few 'dead rubbers' going into the final round of Group fixtures.
That is largely the case this season in the expanded League Phase and both Inter Milan and Monaco have something to play for here.
Monaco may yet push into the top eight places in the final Champions League standings and they need a win to give themselves a chance, while Inter Milan need at least a point to secure their passage into the Last 16 without needing to win a Knock Out tie in February.
With the defensive record Inter Milan have, they may not be ready to commit too many players forward and chase a victory, which does leave some doubt. However, it may be too risky for Inter to sit back and hope to play for a draw and this is a team that has won all 3 home Champions League games this season.
Monaco have been strong at home, but 1 win in 8 away games in all competitions offers little confidence. They were well beaten at Arsenal in the Champions League in that time, while Monaco were 2-0 down at Dinamo Zagreb before a late fightback in a 2-2 draw earlier in the League Phase.
The clean sheets that Inter Milan have racked up will give them a chance to have a very deep run in the competition and the home team look a very big price to win this one with a clean sheet. All 3 home Champions League wins have been successful when backing Inter Milan to win to nil and the price on offer here is appealing enough to back the Italian club here to do the same.
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
Inter Milan 1-0 Monaco
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Inter Milan Win to Nil at 3.00 with Bet365
