MILAN – (Statistics provided by Football Data) Inter have played French opposition (including Olympique Marseille) in European competition on 25 different occasions, winning 11. The French have come out on top in 7, while 7 have ended in draws. In a further 3 matches in the Coppa dell'Amicizia and Mundialito de Clubes the French have won 1, with the other two finishing all square. This evening at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza Inter will host a French side for the 13th time in European club competition and have a favourable record, with 6 victories, 3 draws and 3 defeats, along with 2 draws in the cup games from the Coppa dell'Amicizia and Mundialito de Clubes.
Marseille, on the other hand, have played 17 competitive matches against Italian opposition (including Inter), with 7 wins for the French side (including the 1-0 victory over AC Milan in the 1993 Champions League final in Munich), 5 draws and 5 Italian victories (including Parma's 3-0 win in the 1999 UEFA Cup final in Moscow). Olympique Marseille have won just once in 7 matches on Italian soil, a 1-0 victory against Inter in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup. The other six have seen four 1-1 draws and two defeats for Marseille.
Inter are just one victory away from their 200th in international competition. Their current total of 199 is comprised of the following: European Cup/Champions League – 81; Cup Winners' Cup – 6; European Fairs Cup/UEFA Cup – 89; Intercontinental Cup//Club World Cup – 5. The Nerazzurri have won once in each of the Coppa delle Alpi, the Coppa Piano Rappan and the Anglo-Italian Cup. Their other 15 wins came in the Mitropa Cup and the Mundialito Clubs - with 11 and 4 respectively.
For the fourteenth time in their history of international competition Inter find themselves 1-0 down from the first leg away, needing to come from behind and win at home to qualify in a two-legged knockout tie. They have so far succeeded in qualifying on 7 occasions and have gone out in the other 6.
Marseille, on the other hand, will try for the sixth time in their history to prevail in the return leg away from home, having won the first 1-0. Of their five previous attempts, Marseille have twice progressed and have been eliminated on three occasions.
