Sporting Madrid will host Inter Milan in the second leg of the Europa League Round of 16, and this is a marquee match. Despite losing 0-1 on the road in the first leg, Sporting Madrid will have to attack aggressively to turn the game around. However, the La Liga powerhouse has been in a slump lately, and it's not easy to score goals. Inter Milan, with a one-goal lead, is expected to adopt a solid defense and wait for a chance to counterattack, plus they have scored less than 2 goals in 8 out of their last 10 UEFA matches, so 2.5 goals seems to be a more desirable number to look forward to. (Live on Now at 4 a.m. Thursday)
Sporting Madrid has had an imbalance between offense and defense since Argentinean manager Schmoney took charge. When they faced Inter Milan in the first round, the number of shots on goal was only 7, far lower than the 19 of their opponents, but the team was unable to defend their position, and a goal was scored by Anao Duvivi in the 79th minute. In this match, the Marco Polo team will be forced to attack, but the team is at a low ebb, with only 1 win, 1 draw, and 3 losses in the last 5 matches, including a 0-2 defeat against relegation team Cadiz in the last La Liga match, so the team is eager to win this match, but they are unable to do so.
The strikers are in a slump, with scorer Ewalu Morada scoring only 1 goal in his last 10 matches, Kishavin is out due to injury, and Dibi and Anzuglia are unstable, making it difficult for them to pose a substantial threat to Inter's defense.
Inter Milan, runners-up in the last UEFA Europa League, are currently on a 13-game winning streak in all competitions, and their form and morale are far superior to that of their opponents. Despite the one goal lead, they are more likely to play defense to keep the lead considering they are playing away from home. In fact, Inter Milan's defense is equally good. In the Serie A match against Bologna, despite having only 39% of the ball, they still managed to win 1-0. On the road in Spain, if Inter Milan is determined to defend, I believe that Sporting Madrid will have a hard time breaking through their defense.
