Inter Milan Vs. Bayern Munich: Lineups And Analysis

Louis Van Gaal and Leonardo have provided minimal surprises with their teams ahead of the UEFA Champions League match between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich, with Van Gaal making no changes from his team that defeated Mainz on the weekend. Meanwhile, Leonardo has mostly picked an expected team, but with one surprise. Goran Pandev has not been selected, leaving Samuel Eto’o as the only striker in the team. It’s not completely obvious how Inter will line up, but it’s not too tough to draw conclusions from the team selections. First, here are the lineups.

Inter Milan lineup: Julio Cesar, Chivu, Ranocchia, Lucio, Maicon, Zanetti, Motta, Cambiasso, Stankovic, Sneijder, Eto’o

Bayern Munich lineup: Kraft, Badstuber, Tymoschuk, Lahm, Pranjic, Luis Gustavo, Schweinsteiger, Müller, Ribery, Robben, Gomez

Bayern Munich look set to play their usual 4-2-3-1 setup with Anatoliy Tymoschuk partnering Holger Badstuber in defense and Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, and Thomas Müller playing as a band of three behind Mario Gomez. The only question is the positioning of Luis Gustavo and Danijel Pranjic. They can both play left back or holding midfield, and both played both positions against Mainz. Gustavo started the game as the left back, but swapped with Pranjic in the second half. Pranjic is a more natural left back than Gustavo, and Gustavo starting the game as a holding midfielder seems like the most likely scenario.

Internazionale’s team selection is a little less straight forward. Indication is that their formation will look something like a 4-3-2-1 with Wesley Sneijder and Dejan Stankovic supporting Samuel Eto’o, but that’s far from a sure thing. This isn’t a lineup that Inter have gone with in the past, so they could surprise everyone by playing in a way that no one could have anticipated.

The game kicks off at 2:45 pm ET and can be seen on Fox Soccer Plus as well as FoxSoccer.tv.