MILAN – The Nerazzurri’s fate in the Europa League will be decided today as the round of 32 draw is made Nyon. The matches will be played on 19 and 26 February 2015. Inter qualified for the knock-out stages as group winners, with Dnipro the other team making the cut from Group F.
Including three clubs who’ve joined the competition after being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League, the Nerazzurri have a total of 13 possible opponents in the next round. Let’s have a closer look at each of them in turn:
LIVERPOOL
Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool side joins the Europa League having only managed third place in Champions League Group B behind Real Madrid and Basle. The Reds could only muster five points from their six group games, including one win (at home against Ludogorets), two draws and three defeats. Liverpool are not having the easiest of seasons in the Premier League this year either, currently languishing in tenth position on 21 points. In 16 games so far, Rodgers’ men have won six, drawn three and lost seven. The Nerazzurri have faced off against Liverpool four times in the past:
04/05/1965 - Liverpool 3-1 INTER (Hunt 3, Mazzola 10, Callaghan 33, St.John 74)
12/05/1965 - INTER 3-0 Liverpool (Corso 8, Peirò 9, Facchetti 62)
19/02/2008 - Liverpool 2-0 INTER (Kuyt 86, Gerrard 90+1)
11/03/2008 - INTER 0-1 Liverpool (Torres 65)
AJAX
The Amsterdam-based club are another of the sides to have earned a place in the round of 32 draw via elimination from the Champions League. Ajax finished third in Group F behind Barcelona and PSG, racking up five points. Frank De Boer’s side are one of the youngest in European football with an average age of just under 23. In the Eredivisie, Ajax stand in second position behind PSV Eindhoven, having amassed 36 points from 16 games (11 wins, three draws, two defeats). There have been five past encounters between Inter and the Dutch team:
31/05/1972 - Ajax 2-0 INTER (Cruijff 48, Cruijff 77)
25/09/2002 - INTER 1-0 Ajax (Crespo 74)
12/11/2002 - Ajax 1-2 INTER (Crespo 50, Crespo 52, Van der Vaart 90+4)
22/02/2006 - Ajax 2-2 INTER (Stankovic 4, Huntelaar 16, Rosales 20, Cruz 87)
14/03/2006 - INTER 1-0 Ajax (Stankovic 58)
ANDERLECHT
The Belgian outfit is another young team, with an average age of 23. Anderlecht managed to bag third place in Champions League Group D behind Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal, pipping Galatasaray to a Europa League spot. Anderlecht are level with Gent and Kortijk in third place in the Belgian league on 34 points (nine wins, seven draws, three defeats). The Nerazzurri have played the Belgians six times previously:
01/04/1970 - Anderlecht 0-1 INTER (Boninsegna 49)
15/04/1970 - INTER 0-2 Anderlecht (Bergholtz 3, Bergholtz 45)
04/03/1997 - Anderlecht 1-1 INTER (Versavel 27, Ganz 75)
18/03/1997 - INTER 2-1 Anderlecht (Ganz 12, Preko 33, Ganz 60)
29/09/2004 - Anderlecht 1-3 INTER (Martins 9, Adriano 52, Stankovic 55, Baseggio 90+5)
07/12/2004 - INTER 3-0 Anderlecht (Cruz 33, Martins 61, Martins 64)
VILLARREAL
The Spaniards earned their place in the draw by finishing second in Group A behind Borussia Monchengladbach with an excellent return of 11 points (three wins, two draws and one defeat). In La Liga, the Yellow Submarine is finding its sea legs again after tasting relegation in the 2011/12 season. So far, Marcelino’s boys have managed eight wins, three draws and four defeats in 15 games for a total of 27 points. There have only been two previous encounters between the two sides:
29/03/2006 - INTER 2-1 Villarreal (Forlan 1, Adriano 7, Martins 55)
04/04/2006 - Villarreal 1-0 INTER (Arrubarrena 59)
TOTTENHAM
Despite losing their last match to Besiktas, Spurs scraped into the hat via second place in Group C. In fact, the 1-0 defeat in Turkey put paid to the North London club’s hopes of topping the group and left them rooted on 11 points. It’s been a mixed start to the Premier League season for Mauricio Pocchettino’s side, as they currently sit in seventh position with 24 points from 16 games (seven wins, three draws, six defeats). All four previous encounters with the Nerazzurri have come in the last four years:
20/10/2010 - INTER 4-3 Tottenham (Zanetti 2, Eto'o pen. 11, Stankovic 14, Eto'o 35, Bale 53, 90+1 and 90+2)
02/11/2010 - Tottenham 3-1 INTER (Van der Vaart 18, Crouch 62, Eto'o 81, Pavlyuchenko 90)
07/03/2013 - Tottenham 3-0 INTER (Bale 6, Sigurdsson 18, Vertonghen 54)
14/03/2013 - INTER 4-1 Tottenham (Cassano 20, Palacio 54, Gallas own-goal 77, Adebayor 102, Alvarez 120)
CELTIC
Like Inter, the Glasgow-based club have never been relegated in their history. Ronny Deila’s side qualified for the Europa League round of 32 after securing second place in Group D. Celtic scored eight points from six matches (two wins, two draws and two defeats), losing out on top spot to Salzburg. As always, the Hoops are dominating the Scottish Premier League, sitting pretty at the top of the table with 38 points from 16 games (12 wins, two draws and two defeats). There have been three past encounters between the Scottish club and Inter:
25/05/1967 - Celtic 2-1 INTER (Mazzola pen. 6, Gemmell 62, Chalmers 83)
05/04/1972 - INTER 0-0 Celtic
19/04/1972 - Celtic 0-0 INTER (Inter won 4-5 on penalties - Mazzola, Facchetti, Craig, Frustalupi, Johnstone, Pellizzaro, McClosky, Jair, Murdock)
PSV EINDHOVEN
The Eredivisie leaders have an average age of just over 22, but that hasn’t stopped them racking up an impressive 37 points in their domestic league (12 wins, one draw and two defeats). PSV qualified for the knock-out stages after finishing second in Group E behind Dynamo Moscow. Inter have played the Dutch club twice before in their history:
02/10/2007 - INTER 2-0 PSV Eindhoven (Ibrahimovic pen. 15, Ibrahimovic 31)
12/12/2007 - PSV Eindhoven 0-1 INTER (Cruz 65)
SEVILLA
Sevilla currently occupy a Champions League spot in La Liga and are just two points behind Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid side. Unai Emery’s team amassed 11 points via three wins, two draws and one defeat against Feyenoord, HNK Rijeka and Standard Liege. It should not be forgotten that the Spanish team are the reigning Europa League champions, having beaten Benfica on penalties in last year’s final in Turin. There have been no past encounters between the two clubs.
WOLFSBURG
Dieter Hecking’s side finished second in Group H behind Everton, having secured qualification on the last day of the group stages with a 0-3 win at Lille. Wolfsburg are currently in second position in the Bundesliga, nine points behind the Bayern Munich juggernaut. Inter have never played the German club.
YOUNG BOYS
Uli Forte’s Young Boys team currently sit in second position in the Swiss league, just behind Basle and level on points with Zurich. The Bern-based team qualified for the competition by defeating Hungarian outfit Debreceni VSC in the play-offs. Young Boys will be familiar to some Italian football fans given they were drawn with Napoli in Group I. Indeed, one of Young Boys' four victories was a 2-0 defeat of Napoli in Switzerland. There have been no previous encounters with the Nerazzurri.
AALBORG
The Danish club are languishing in mid-table in their domestic league. Kent Nielsen’s side got three home victories in Group J against Steaua Bucarest, Rio Ave and Dynamo Kiev, which was enough to see them through to the knock-out stages. Inter have never played the Danes.
GUINGAMP
Fresh from a Ligue 1 win against PSG recently, Jocelyn Gourvennec’s Guingamp side are nonetheless struggling in the bottom half of the French league. Guingamp managed three wins in Fiorentina’s Group K (twice against PAOK and one against Minsk). There have been two past encounters with the Nerazzurri:
10/09/1996 - Guingamp 0-3 INTER (Ganz 25, Djorkaeff pen. 72, Sforza 87)
24/09/1996 - INTER 1-1 Guingamp (Branca 7, Wreh 75)
TRABZONSPOR
Ersun Yanal’s side are stuck in mid-table in the Turkish league this season. After beating Rostov in the play-off stage, Trabzonspor were drawn in Group L alongside Metalist, Legia Warsaw and KSC Lokeren, bagging three wins and a draw. There have been four previous clashes between Inter and the Turkish club:
14/09/1983 - Trabzonspor 1-0 INTER (Tuncay 88)
28/09/1983 - INTER 2-0 Trabzonspor (Altobelli pen. 48, Collovati 86)
14/09/2011 - INTER 0-1 Trabzonspor (Celustka 77)
22/11/2011 - Trabzonspor 1-1 INTER (Alvarez 18, Altintop 23)
