Lautaro Martinez returns to Inter‘s starting XI against Benfica after scoring four goals as a substitute against Salernitana on Saturday.
The Nerazzurri host Benfica at the Stadio Meazza tonight. It kicks off at 20:00 BST.
Simone Inzaghi’s men picked up a 1-1 draw in their 2023-24 Champions League debut against Real Sociedad two weeks ago, while Benfica lost to RB Salzburg.
Inter are without the injured Marko Arnautovic, Davide Frattesi and Stefano Sensi tonight. The latter would not have been available anyway, being out of Inter’s UEFA list.
Serie A’s top scorer Lautaro will return to Inter’s XI after his stunning performance over the last weekend, which saw him score four goals in 27 minutes as a substitute at the Stadio Arechi against Salernitana.
El Toro will join Marcus Thuram in attack. Alessandro Bastoni will also return to Inter’s line-up with Francesco Acerbi and Matteo Darmian, favourite over Benjamin Pavard.
Juan Cuadrado is available but expected to start on the bench, while ex-Juventus star Angel Di Maria will be one of the biggest threats for the Nerazzurri, alongside Inter’s former midfielder Joao Mario.
Inter-Benfica, probable line-ups
Inter (3-5-2): Sommer; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro, Thuram.
Benfica (4-4-1-2): Trubin; Bah, Morato, Otamendi, Aursnes; Kökçü, Neves; Di Maria, Rafa Silva, Joao Mario; Musa.