Champions League: Bayern and Inter is Too Close to Call

Bayern Munich vs Inter Milan

After a long and arduous road, the 2025 Champions League is approaching its business end, and Tuesday’s clash between Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich and Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan is one of four superb quarter-finals to get our teeth stuck into.

Bayern and Inter are two of Europe’s heavyweights and with some of the continents big guns, including the Premier League pair of Manchester City and Liverpool, already out, the latest Champions League 2025 betting odds have brought the Bavarians in to fourth favourites, while I Nerazzurri are another side with a genuine chance of winning the main prize.   

Both teams are leading their domestic leagues and are strong favourites to win the Bundesliga and Serie A titles, so each are eying a classic domestic and European double.  Bayern went away to Augsburg on Friday night and kept second placed Bayer Leverkusen at a distance, winning 3-1, but the Bavarians needed help from an own goal and a red card for the hosts who had taken an early lead. Meanwhile, Inter Milan slipped up away to Parma on Saturday afternoon. After Matteo Darmian and Marcus Thuram had given the Serie A leaders a 2-0 half time lead, they let it slip in the second half and drew 2-2. I Nerazzurri are still four points clear at the top of the Italian table but they have opened the door to Napoli, who can close the gap to a single point if they can beat Bologna on Monday.      

 

Talking Points

Route to the quarter-final

While Inter Milan coasted through the new league table format of the Champions League, finishing fourth of the 36 teams and qualifying for the Round of 16 automatically, Bayern Munich had a struggle. Kompany’s team had a distinctly mixed set of Champions League 2025 results, losing three of their eight matches and finishing 12^th which meant the nervy prospect of play-offs, where the Bavarians had a real scare against Scottish side Celtic.

Leading 2-1 after a first leg in Glasgow, Bayern failed to get going back in Munich and, when centre back Kim Min-Jae made an uncharacteristic error, Nicolas Kuhn pounced to give the Scots a shock lead on the night and levelled the tie on aggregate. But, as extra time beckoned, Bayern scored with the last kick of the game, Alphonso Davies poking home after a Leon Goretzka header had been parried.   

In the Round of 16, Bayern swept aside Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen with a devastating performance in the away leg, winning 3-0 before finishing the job in Munich with a 2-0 win as Harry Kane became the first Englishman to score ten goals in a Champions League campaign.     

Inter had a calm passage through to the quarter finals with a 4-1 aggregate win over Feyenoord. After winning the first leg in the Netherlands 2-0, goals from Marcus Thuram and Hakan Calahanoglu gave them a victory back in Milan, and a final eight spot.

 

Team news

Bayern’s win away to Augsburg came at a cost as flying winger Jamal Musiala was substituted in the 54^th-minute and he is doubtful for the first leg of the quarter-final. The Bundesliga side have plenty of firepower with England striker Harry Kane on ten goals and Michael Olise on five, while Joshua Kimmich has five assists. But the creativity of Musiala is always a threat and the young Germany star is a potential match-winner; so this is a serious miss for Kompany’s team.

There may be better news for the Italians who feared they may be without defender Alessandro Bastoni, who limped off during Inter’s 2-2 draw Parma and was substituted at half time. Reports form Milan suggested he was suffering a knee problem but assistant coach Massimiliano Farris said the knock was ‘nothing to worry about’ as the club prepares for their meeting with Bayern.

And, at the other end of the pitch, club star striker Lautaro Martinez, with six goals in the competition, is set to start up front alongside Thuram.  

 

History

These two proud clubs are European royalty with nine Champions League titles between them. Bayern have won six crowns, the last in 2020, while the most recent of Inter’s three titles came in 2010, though I Nerazzurri came close in 2023, losing the final to Manchester City.

Bayern and Inter have met 11 times over the last 20 years and the Bavarians, who won the last two meetings at the 2022 Champions League group stage, are leading by six victories to four.  

And, in terms of recent form, Bayern have won four, drawn one and lost one of the last six games while Inter have won four and drawn two.

 

Betting Tip

The Bavarians are odds-on favourites to win the first leg, at SBOTOP odds of 1.98, and the extra day’s preparation will help Kompany’s men. But Inter Milan are a formidable opponent and will attract plenty of support at odds of 3.51, as will the draw at 3.22. 

   

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