UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - 2020/21 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Stadio San Siro - Milan Wednesday 21 October 2020 21.00CET (21.00 local time) FC Internazionale Milano VfL Borussia Group B - Matchday 1 Mönchengladbach Last updated 29/10/2020 15:28CET UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OFFICIAL SPONSORS Match background 2 Legend 5 1 FC Internazionale Milano - VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach Wednesday 21 October 2020 - 21.00CET (21.00 local time) Match press kit Stadio San Siro, Milan Match background Internazionale and Borussia Mönchengladbach will know the importance of making a positive start to a competitive- looking Group B when they meet at San Siro on Matchday 1. • With Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk completing the section, three points in Milan would give either side a useful foundation to reach the round of 16, where Inter – runners-up in last season's UEFA Europa League – have not appeared since 2011/12. That would be uncharted territory for Mönchengladbach, whose two previous UEFA Champions League campaigns both ended in the group stage. Previous meetings • This is the sides' fifth meeting, and the first in more than 40 years. The German club's victorious UEFA Cup campaign in 1978/79 featured a 4-3 aggregate win against Inter in the second round (1-1 h, 3-2 a aet). • Inter had come out on top when the sides had first met, in the 1971/72 European Cup second round. The Nerazzurri won 4-2 in the first leg in Milan, going through by the same aggregate score after a goalless draw in Berlin – a replayed match following an annulled first leg that the German side had won 7-1. Form guide Inter • Second in Serie A in 2019/20, a point behind champions Juventus, Inter are the last Italian team to win the UEFA Champions League, in 2010 – their third European Cup triumph, and first in 45 years. • This is the 14th time Inter have been in the group stage and the third season in a row having missed out for six consecutive years between 2011/12 and 2018/19. • Antonio Conte's side finished third in their section last season, behind Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund after losing 2-1 at home to the Spanish side on Matchday 6. They picked up seven points from their six games. • The Nerazzurri moved into the UEFA Europa League, beating Ludogorets 4-1 on aggregate in the round of 32 before wins in one-off ties on German soil against Getafe (2-0), Bayer Leverkusen (2-1) and Shakhtar Donetsk (5-0) took them into the final. Inter came up short at the last, however, going down 3-2 against Sevilla in the Cologne decider. • Inter have won only two of their last ten UEFA Champions League matches (D3 L5). • The Milan club's last two UEFA Champions League campaigns have ended in the group stage, Inter finishing third in their section both last season and in 2018/19 – the latter the first time in nine campaigns they had failed to progress. • Inter won their last game against German opponents, defeating Leverkusen in last season's UEFA Europa League quarter-final, and also prevailed the last time a Bundesliga club came to Milan, overcoming Dortmund 2-0 on Matchday 3 of last season's UEFA Champions League. That success ended a run of four successive defeats at home to German clubs. • Despite the victories against Dortmund and Leverkusen, Inter have won only five of their last 19 matches against German opponents (D4 L10), although one of those successes came against Bayern München in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final (2-0). Mönchengladbach • This is Mönchengladbach's third UEFA Champions League group stage appearance, both previous participations – in 2015/16 and 2016/17 – ending in early elimination. Fourth in their debut campaign in 2015, the German club finished third 12 months later to move into the UEFA Europa League, where they were beaten on away goals by Schalke in an all-Bundesliga round of 16 tie (1-1 a, 2-2 h) after dramatically overcoming Italian club Fiorentina in the round of 32 thanks to a Lars Stindl second-leg hat-trick (0-1 h, 4-2 a). • Mönchengladbach took part in the UEFA Europa League group stage in 2019/20, finishing third behind İstanbul Başakşehir and Roma in their section. Marco Rose's side picked up eight points (W2 D2 L2) from their six fixtures to bow out. • The Foals have won two of their last three European games (L1) but only three of the last 13 (D6 L4). • Mönchengladbach were fourth in the Bundesliga in 2019/20, their highest league finish since 2015/16. • Mönchengladbach drew 1-1 at Roma last season before a 2-1 home victory, stretching their unbeaten run against Italian clubs to three matches (W2 D1). A 2-0 loss at Lazio in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League round of 32 second leg is their only reverse in their last seven trips to Italy (W3 D3). Links and trivia • Gladbach midfielder Valentino Lazaro is on loan from Inter, whom he joined in 2019 from Bundesliga rivals Hertha 2 FC Internazionale Milano - VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach Wednesday 21 October 2020 - 21.00CET (21.00 local time) Match press kit Stadio San Siro, Milan Berlin. He has made six Serie A appearances for the Nerazzurri, also featuring three times in last season's UEFA Champions League group stage. • Have played in Germany: Achraf Hakimi (Dortmund 2018–20) Ivan Perišić (Dortmund 2011–13, Wolfsburg 2013–15, Bayern 2019/20 loan) Arturo Vidal (Leverkusen 2007–11, Bayern 2015–18) • Hakimi finished on the winning side in all three games against Gladbach for Dortmund, scoring the decisive goal in BVB's 2-1 away victory on 7 March. • Perišić has scored three goals in eight games against Gladbach; two for Dortmund and one on loan at Bayern last term, when he helped the Munich club to a treble of Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and UEFA Champions League. • Vidal has scored three goals in his eight games against Gladbach. • Christoph Kramer was in Leverkusen's youth and reserve teams when Vidal was at the club. • International team-mates: Milan Škriniar & László Bénes (Slovakia) Latest news Inter • Summer transfers In: Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid), Andrea Pinamonti (Genoa), Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Arturo Vidal (Barcelona), Matteo Darmian (Parma, loan), Alexis Sánchez (Manchester United) Out: Mauro Icardi (Paris), Antonio Candreva (Sampdoria, loan), Sebastiano Esposito (SPAL, loan), Dalbert (Rennes, loan), Valentino Lazaro (Mönchengladbach, loan), Borja Valero (Fiorentina), Diego Godín (Cagliari), Eddie Salcedo (Hellas Verona, loan), Lucien Agoumé (Spezia, loan) • Inter won their first two games of the Serie A season, beating Fiorentina 4-3 at home and Benevento 5-2 away. • Defender Danilo D'Ambrosio, who ended last season by scoring in Inter's last two Serie A games, got the late winner against Fiorentina. • New signing Hakimi scored his first Inter goal against Benevento. • On 4 October, Lautaro Martínez's third goal in as many Serie A games this season was only enough for a 1-1 draw at Lazio, both sides finishing the game with ten men; Stefano Sensi was sent off for Inter. • Inter were beaten 2-1 at home by AC Milan in the derby on Saturday, ending a four-match winning run in the fixture. It was their first Serie A loss to their neighbours since a 3-0 defeat on 31 January 2016; their subsequent record was W5 D3. • Christian Eriksen celebrated his 100th cap for Denmark by scoring the only goal of the UEFA Nations League match against England at Wembley on 14 October. The midfielder had also scored in the 4-0 friendly win against Faroe Islands on 7 October and the 3-0 UEFA Nations League win against Iceland three days later. • Romelu Lukaku scored three goals in two UEFA Nations League games for Belgium in the recent international break: one in the 2-1 defeat away to England on 11 October and two in the 2-1 win in Iceland three days later. • Alexis Sánchez and Arturo Vidal both scored in Chile's 2-2 draw against Colombia in 2020 FIFA World Cup qualifying on 13 October. Sánchez had also scored in the 2-1 defeat against Uruguay five days previously. • Martínez scored in Argentina's 2-1 win against Bolivia, also in World Cup qualifying, on 13 October. • On 2 October Lukaku was named the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League Player of the Season. • Lukaku was joined by Samir Handanovič, Stefan de Vrij, Nicolò Barella, Marcelo Brozović and Martínez in the UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season. Mönchengladbach • Summer transfers In: Hannes Wolf (RB Leipzig, loan), Valentino Lazaro (Inter, loan) Out: Tobias Strobl (Augsburg), Moritz Nicolas (Osnabrück, loan), Keanan Bennetts (Ipswich, loan), Fabian Johnson (released), Raffael (released) • Mönchengladbach's first competitive match in 2020/21 was an 8-0 win at fourth tier Oberneuland in the first round of the German Cup on 12 September. • A week later Gladbach lost 3-0 in Dortmund on the opening weekend of the Bundesliga season; they got their first point on the board with a 1-1 draw against Union Berlin on 26 September. 3 FC Internazionale Milano - VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach Wednesday 21 October 2020 - 21.00CET (21.00 local time) Match press kit Stadio San Siro, Milan • On 3 October Marco Rose's team prevailed 3-1 in Köln, before a 1-1 home draw against Wolfsburg on Saturday. • Florian Neuhaus marked his Germany debut with a goal in a 3-3 friendly draw against Turkey on 7 October. Jonas Hofmann also earned his first cap for Germany, as a substitute, in the same game.