A fascinating Champions League round of 16 tie gets underway on Tuesday night as Serie A leaders Inter take on Atletico Madrid.

Simone Inzaghi’s Inter, beaten finalists last time out, are one of Europe’s form sides having won their previous eight games in all competitions. They’ve already secured the Supercoppa Italiana in 2024 and are poised to waltz to the Serie A title.

The Nerazzurri, however, finished behind Real Sociedad in Group D and thus have a tricky round of 16 tie against Diego Simeone’s Atleti. The Spaniards have emerged as one of the most watchable sides in La Liga this term, although a switch in style could be in the offing for the Champions League knockout stages.

A thrilling two-legged affair awaits, and here’s 90min’s preview of the first leg in Milan.

The hosts are set to be without summer arrival Juan Cuadrado, who has featured only sparingly this season, as well as Francesco Acerbi.

A muscle injury is set to rule the Italian defender out.

There could be two changes at wing-back from Friday’s 4-0 win over Salernitana, with Matteo Darmian and Federico Dimarco coming in for Denzel Dumfries and Carlos Augusto respectively.

Inter predicted lineup vs Atletico (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro, Thuram.

The visitors have considerably more injury issues than the hosts.

Simeone will certainly be without Thomas Lemar, Vitolo, Marcos Paulo, and Cesar Azpilicueta, all of whom are long-term absentees.

Alvaro Morata is a recent addition to the injury list, with the Spaniard ruled out until March with a knee injury. Antoine Griezmann will come back into the team and partner Memphis Depay up top.

Atletico predicted lineup vs Inter (3-5-2): Oblak; Witsel, Gimenez, Hermoso; Llorente, Koke, Barrios, Saul, Lino; Griezmann, Depay.

It’d be a shame for Simeone to deviate from the more progressive ideals Atleti have displayed in La Liga over the past couple of years for this European tie. It’s set to be an intriguing bout in which the battle for control will be fiercely contested.

On Tuesday, the visitors will try to contain the hosts and limit their opportunities to transition, all while aiming to hit Inter on the counter themselves. A chess match is in store.

While Atleti hit Las Palmas for five at the weekend, they’re facing a superb outfit in Inter in midweek. Inzaghi’s side are just exceptional, and have shown over the past 18 months that they can beat you in a myriad of ways. They should take the lead heading into the return leg.