Earlier this week we reported Lautaro Martínez's line that Inter's Champions League target is an objective. On Tuesday night at the Bernabeu, the opener is already looking more like a selection puzzle than a glamour fixture. Kick-off is at 20.00 UK time, 21.00 CEST, with Real Madrid missing several regulars and Inter making a series of changes of their own.
Real Madrid's altered setup
Real Madrid were beaten 1-0 by Real Betis on Friday, when Kylian Mbappé's penalty was parried, and the team news for this one suggests a different kind of problem. Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to play in midfield in a 4-2-3-1 formation, an unusual role for him and one that changes the shape of Madrid's build-up.
The same report says Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior and Ibrahima Konaté are among the names affected by the reshuffle. That leaves Madrid with a line-up built around adaptation rather than the clean first-choice XI most sides want for a Champions League opener.
Inter's changes and form
Inter are not arriving with a full hand either. Federico Dimarco was ruled out by a knee issue in the 3-2 thriller with Napoli, but the Italian side still come in on the back of three consecutive Serie A victories.
Football-italia.net's match reporter put it plainly: "Inter start Lautaro Martínez, Marcus Thuram and Curtis Jones, but Federico Dimarco is injured for the Champions League clash with Denzel Dumfries’ decimated Real Madrid." Jones gets his first start since the move from Liverpool, which is the more interesting part of Inter's line-up. His inclusion adds another wrinkle to a front line that already has Lautaro Martínez in steady form, with a 7.1 average across his last three league appearances and a 7.22 league rating for the season.
The broader point is simple enough: this opener is being defined by the team sheets. Madrid's midfield tweak and Inter's new selection choices will tell us more about the night than the badge count on either side.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
