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How Juventus, Napoli, Roma, and Inter will perform in their Champions League groups

By John Vaccaro

A board displays the result of the draw for UEFA Champions League football tournament at The Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on August 30, 2018. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP) (Photo credit should read VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)
A board displays the result of the draw for UEFA Champions League football tournament at The Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on August 30, 2018. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP) (Photo credit should read VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images) /
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MILAN, ITALY – AUGUST 26: Ivan Perisic #44 of FC Internazionale celebrates with his team-mates after scoring the opening goal during the serie A match between FC Internazionale and Torino FC at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on August 26, 2018 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani – Inter/Inter via Getty Images)
MILAN, ITALY – AUGUST 26: Ivan Perisic #44 of FC Internazionale celebrates with his team-mates after scoring the opening goal during the serie A match between FC Internazionale and Torino FC at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on August 26, 2018 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani – Inter/Inter via Getty Images) /

Inter Milan- Group B

Following he transfer window it looked like Inter was going to be a real competitor both in Serie A and in the Champions League. However, through two games they haven’t looked anything like the team we all expected. They struggled through a 1-0 loss to Sassuolo in their season opener and then followed it up by blowing a 2-0 lead at home against Torino, settling for a 2-2 draw. Inter will need to get it together quickly if they’re going to to compete in the Champions League because they drew quite the group.

Drawing a group that includes Barcelona, Tottenham, and PSV Eindhoven will certainly not do a struggling Inter side any favors. Barcelona is one of the favorites to win the tournament and Tottenham is a very strong side as well (whether they have Heung-min Son or not). Even Eindhoven could very well pose a threat to Inter right now.

Inter’s chances of advancing out of this group look pretty bleak right now. To do it they’ll likely need to beat Tottenham once and Eindhoven in both matches. With the way Inter has played at this point in the season it will be very difficult to count on them achieving either of those feats. The fact that their home match against Tottenham will come in just a couple of weeks also doesn’t do them any favors. With an international break coming up Inter will be left with very little opportunity to right the ship before this match that they will badly need to win. By the time the second leg rolls around it’s reasonable to believe Inter will have already been eliminated. Tottenham has a very good chance of taking both matches against Inter.

Even if Radja Nainggolan comes back and turns Inter into the team we expected coming into the season they still don’t match up well with Barcelona. Barca has one of the best attacks in the world, a better midfield than Inter, and a solid enough defense to slow down Inter’s attack. It would take a perfect performance from Inter to win either match against Barca and they’ve given us no reason to believe that performance is coming.

Eindhoven is Inter’s best chance to win a match in this group. The youth of their starting lineup will likely work against them here. Much of their lineup lacks Champions League experience. They also simply don’t have the talent Inter does. Inter should be able to muster good enough performances to take 4 points from the 2 matches against Eindhoven.

Prediction: 5 points, 3rd place

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