Cristian Chivu and Inter get their 2026-27 Champions League campaign underway in the toughest of tests away against Real Madrid on Tuesday evening, although Jose Mourinho will be without several of his key first-team players through injury and suspension.
The Nerazzurri are looking to make up for a disappointing 2025-26 season in Europe, which ended in the knock-out play-off round at the hands of Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt. Chivu and his players have since gone on to win both the Serie A title and the Coppa Italia trophy since then, though.
Inter will be without Federico Dimarco at the Bernabeu: The Italy international has not travelled with the squad on precautionary grounds as he looks to recover from a minor knee issue that he picked up during Saturday’s 3-2 Serie A victory over Napoli.
Carlos Augusto is expected to start at left wing-back in Dimarco’s absence.
Pre-match reports suggest that Curtis Jones could be in line for his full Inter debut against Real Madrid on Tuesday night. The Englishman has appeared off the bench in both of the last two Serie A matches following his €35m transfer from Liverpool.
Marcus Thuram, fresh from scoring off the bench against Napoli over the weekend, could be brought in for his first start of the 2026-27 season. Pio Esposito has partnered captain Lautaro Martinez for the first three league games of the new campaign and would be the more likely of the two to drop out of the side if the Frenchman comes in.
Sky Sport Italia predicts that former Nerazzurri wing-back Denzel Dumfries is set to start at right-back against his former club on Tuesday evening.
The 15-time winners will be without several key players, though, including Bernardo Silva, Edoardo Camavinga and Arda Guler through suspension.
Mourinho has a series of decisions to make in central midfield, as Aurelien Tchouameni has recently returned to training, but is yet to feature at all this season and is unlikely to be thrown straight into the starting line-up.
Importantly, though, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham are all fit and available to start and are likely to be included in Mourinho’s starting XI.
Kick-off this evening is due at 20.00 BST.
Real Madrid vs. Inter: Probable line-ups
Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Valverde, Bellingham; Diomande, Diaz, Vinicius; Mbappe.
Inter (3-5-2): J.Martinez; Bisseck, Akanji, Bastoni; L.Henrique, Barella, Calhanoglu, Jones, C.Augusto; Thuram, L.Martinez.
Where to watch Real Madrid vs. Inter
Tonight’s game will be available to watch live in the UK on TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 5 and online through HBO Max. Supporters in the USA are able to tune in via Paramount+.
Join us for all the pre-match build-up, in-game coverage and post-match reactions on the Football Italia Liveblog.
