The 2026/27 UEFA Champions campaign gets underway with a heavyweight clash as Real Madrid host Inter Milan on Tuesday night.
Madrid return to the competition under the tutelage of new boss Jose Mourinho who guided Inter to their famous 2010 Champions League triumph.
The hosts come into the game on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Real Betis over the weekend, while Inter continued their impressive start to the Serie A campaign with an impressive 3-2 win against Napoli.
Both these teams have a combined 18 Champions League titles between them, with Madrid holding the record with a record 15 titles to their name. Their last trophy came in the 2023/24 season when they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the final.
Inter on the other hand have not lifted the trophy since 2010, but they have lost in two of the last four finals of the competition.
With home advantage as well as an imposing record against Inter in Spain, Madrid are highly regarded as favorites here.
We have a look at both teams ahead of kick off and offer our predicted outcome.
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What time does Madrid vs Inter start?
The match kicks off at 10PM E.A.T at the Santiago Bernabeau
Madrid vs Inter team news
Eduardo Camavinga, Bernardo Silva and Arda Guler are all suspended here and won’t feature in Tuesday’s game.
This means Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni will start in the heart of midfield, with Jude Bellingham occupying the spot right ahead of the duo.
Endrick is back in training but may only be able to feature from the bench. The reliable attacking duo of Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe will lead the line for Mourinho’s charges. 7
As for the visitors, Lautaro Martinez is fresh from scoring a brace against Napoli and will start here, alongside Marcus Thurman in the final third.
Hakan Calhanoglu, Federico Dimarco and Alessandro Bastoni are all fit and will start in the Inter midfield.
The rest of the side will remain unchanged from the winning team at the weekend.
Madrid vs Inter head-to-head and current form
The Spanish heavyweights saw a six-match winning streak halted at the weekend by Betis. The defeat was their only one in their last 12 games in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Inter are unbeaten in 20 matches ahead of this encounter. They have scored 11 goals in their last five matches, winning all of them.
Real are however superior in recent matches against Inter, winning all of the last five games played against them.
Current form
Madrid – LWWWW
Inter – WWWWW
Madrid vs Inter previous games
Madrid 2-0 Inter (December 7, 2021)
Inter 0-1 Madrid (September 15, 2021)
Inter 0-2 Madrid (November 25, 2020)
Madrid 3-2 Inter (November 3, 2020)
Inter 0-3 Madrid (July 27, 2015)
Real Madrid vs Inter Milan prediction
The hosts have proven to be superior to their opponents in recent history and they possess enough potent attacking quality to maintain their streak here.
Inter have scored in all their matches this season and Madrid have shown some defensive weakness that may leave them a little bit exposed here.
Prediction – Both teams to score
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