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The path is certainly not as easy as it was about three weeks ago.
It was then that Inter Milan had a simple path to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Defeat Tottenham Hotspur or even draw level and the road to the round of 16 was paved nicely.
However, a late goal by Christian Eriksen gave Spurs a needed win and a leg up on the Nerazzurri heading into the final group round.
The path to the knockout stage is now much more complicated for Inter. They have to beat PSV Eindhoven Tuesday and hope Barcelona knock off Tottenham at Camp Nou in order to advance. The Nerazzurri will be seeking their fourth straight Champions League win over PSV.
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Inter Milan news
The bad news ... Matias Vecino is likely out of the match with PSV due to his nagging thigh injury.
The good news ... Radja Nainggolan is likely back after suffering his injury against Tottenham earlier in the campaign. This is big because Nainggolan helped pace the Nerazzurri against PSV in their first meeting of the Champions League.
With Sime Vrsaljko also healthy, it means that Luciano Spalletti will be able to field one of his strongest line-ups.
Wild cards here will be the sluggish Ivan Perisic who has yet to really get on track this season on the wing and Danilo D’Ambrosio who has shown flashes, but nothing of consistency.
Matteo Politano should be strong on the right side while Borja Valero could have a chance to be extremely solid at center midfield.
Inter’s defense remains one of the best in Serie A -- which, despite the loss, was enforced at Juventus as the Nerazzurri held the Old Lady to just one late goal in Turin.
Mauro Icardi will have to bring the “A” game to the Meazza Tuesday and be on target despite the leaky Eindhoven defense.
Projected lineup: Handanovic; Vrsaljko, De Virj, Skriniar, D’Ambrosio; Valero, Brozovic; Politano, Nainggolan, Perisic; Icardi.
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PSV Eindhoven news
The Eredivisie champions suffered their first setback in the league, but bounced back with a big 6-0 win over Excelsior to stay atop to the league standings.
Now, PSV is out of the Champions League and won’t be dropping to the Europa League after finishing last in Group B, but they do have the opportunity to play spoiler for Inter who need to win and get help from Group champions Barcelona to advance.
Captain and striker Luuk de Jong will need to be a focus for Inter’s defense as it will be his job to motivate PSV to close out their European campaign on a high.
He will only be able to accomplish this if wingers Steven Bergwijn and Hirving Lozano are both on their game. If Inter can close out space between the wingers and de Jong, it will be increasingly difficult for them to find the back of the net.
Not to mention a hostile crowd at the Meazza who will be hoping for continued European glory for the Nerazzurri.
Defensively, PSV is solid and have midfielder Jorrit Hendrix to provide some defensive help. However, it will be difficult for Eindhoven to compete with the physicality of Nainggolan and the speed of Perisic and Politano.
Projected lineup: Zoet; Dumfries, Schwaab, Viergever, Angelino; Rosario, Hendrix; Bergwijn, Pereiro, Lozano; de Jong.
Match information
Time and Date: 9 p.m. (Milan), 3 p.m. (EST) Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Where: Giuseppe Meazza Stadium (Milan)
How to watch: In the United States, the match will be aired on Bleacher Report Live and on Univision Deportes En Vivo. If you are in the United Kingdom, you can watch the match on BT Sport Live, BT Sport ESPN and listen on TalkSport 2. In Italy, you can catch the match on Sky Sport Football and Sky Sport Uno.
Click here to see where you can watch the match anywhere in the world.
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