The marquee match of the day is at the San Siro, a rematch of last year’s final. Then, Inter came out on top, roundly outclassing Bayern in the Santiago Bernabeu to collect the trophy in what turned out to be Jose Mourinho's Inter swan song. Now, Bayern seek revenge while Inter must merely be hoping to find something of value from what has been a turbulent season so far.
Inter didn’t exactly convince in the their trip to the knockout stages, but that was then, and this is now. Under Mourinho's successor, the ill-fated Rafa Benitez, Inter were a chilly, disjointed team unloved even by their own fans and suffering from a bad case of the yips on the field. Under Leonardo, Inter has regained some of the old swagger and comes into this match on a hot streak, with nine wins in 11 games this year.
New boy Giampaolo Pazzini has made an immediate impact since his transfer from Sampdoria. Running alongside Samuel Eto’o, with Javier Zanetti, Thiago Motta and Sneijder behind, Inter have rediscovered their scoring touch, shooting their way out of trouble in games against Palermo, Roma and Fiorentina, and overwhelming the likes of Bari. But one key absentee tonight will be the man who won the final last year: Diego Milito, scorer of both goals, is out with a hamstring strain.
Bayern only dropped one game in the group stages, a 3-2 loss in Rome thanks to a late Francesco Totti penalty. That doesn’t tell the entire story: Bayern were in the midst of a prolonged slump at home and after a dominant first half performance that night, they allowed Roma to come all the way back from 2-0 down. A clearly angry Louis van Gaal snapped at reporters after the match, saying: "If it were so easy to explain why things are going wrong for us, I would already have the answer for you"
Since then, Bayern have undergone a transformation of their own, rebounding from a hideous league start to climb into third. They are unlikely to catch Borussia Dortmund for the Bundeliga crown, but they are now winning games with the kind of power and élan expected from the Bavarian giants.
Why? Easy: Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben are finally healthy. Key striker Mario Gomez has been the spark-plug that carried Bayern through some grim times, consigning Miroslav Klose to the bench in the process. But Gomez, who carried the load in the group stage, is now trying to shake off an ankle injury he picked up on the weekend against Mainz and the so-called "Rob-bery" tandem will be critical.
Where Bayern can be caught out is at the back. Phillip Lahm has spent far too much time covering up for the gaffes of Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Holger Badstuber to be the playmaker he can be, and Bastian Schweinsteiger is only just now shaking off the cobwebs from South Africa.
The same is true for Inter, with long-term absentee Walter Samuel (knee) yet to be completely replaced. Lucio and Maicon have done yeoman work, but the former is shaking off an injury and the latter is not showing the poise he did a season prior.
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