Inter Milan meet Shakhtar Donetsk at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany as both teams look to book their spot in this season’s Europa League Final.
Sevilla will await the winner of this match in the Final on Friday but with two contrasting styles, this could very well be a cracker between two former winners of this competition under its former name of the UEFA Cup.
Team News
Embed from Getty ImagesAlexis Sanchez is ruled out for Inter Milan after suffering a muscular injury in training.
Matias Vecino (knee) is also absent meaning that Antonio Conte could name an unchanged XI from the team that beat Bayer Leverkusen in the Quarter-Finals.
Shakhtar Donetsk have Davit Khocholava available after the defender served a ban against Basel in their 4-1 Quarter-Final victory.
Stat Attack
- Inter Milan are unbeaten in two previous meetings in all UEFA competitions (W1, D1), although this is their first-ever Europa League meeting.
- Shakhtar have progressed from one of two previous semi-final two-legged appearances in this competition, including when it was previously known as UEFA Cup (W1, D2, L1).
- Inter Milan have progressed from four of nine previous two-legged semi-final appearances in this competition, including when previously branded as UEFA Cup and Inter-City Fairs Cup (W8, D2, L8).
- Junior Moraes has scored four goals in his last three Europa League appearances for Shakhtar Donetsk.
- Romelu Lukaku has scored once in each of Inter’s four games since dropping into the Europa League knockout stage.
Prediction
I am expecting a good battle here because Inter Milan were impressive in terms of expansive flank play and clinical with their shots, yet Shakhtar brushed Basel aside with not just pace but also creative play all over the pitch even when not in possession.
Inter therefore will need to be physically aware defensively because if Shakhtar can impose their fast paced attacking play and pressure the defence when not in possession, I can see genuine trouble heading the way of the Italian side if aren’t careful.
Goals therefore are most definitely certain in this game but the longer this stays tight and even possibly goalless, it will be difficult to look past Inter but if Shakhtar can quickly seize control and impose their play then there will be just one result.
Prediction: Inter Milan 1-2 Shakhtar Donetsk
Result: Inter Milan 5-0 Shakhtar Donetsk