Tottenham Hotspur will have the chance to fully revive their UEFA Champions League (UCL) campaign when they host Internazionale for a Group B match at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday, 28 November 2018, kick-off at 22h00 CAT.
Spurs appeared to be very much down and out when they had claimed just one point from their opening three matches, and even more so when they were trailing PSV Eindhoven 1-0 at home in their last UCL outing.
However, two goals in the last 12 minutes from striker Harry Kane brought them a 2-1 victory and breathed new life into their hopes of reaching the knockout stages. Mauricio Pochettino’s side are still very much the outsiders to join Barcelona in the last 16, but there’s more than a glimmer of hope for them.
A win at home to Internazionale would bring them level with the Italians on seven points and set up a final day shootout to see which of the two gets the better result, with Spurs away to an already-qualified Barcelona and the Nerazzurri at home to PSV.
Yet Inter will be a tough team to beat, with Luciano Spalletti’s side playing some fine football through this campaign and emerging as strong challengers to be the ‘best of the rest’ behind a dominant Juventus in Serie A.
They also proved their potency at UCL level with a 1-1 draw against Barca last time out, with Mauro Icardi scoring a late equaliser to ensure they picked up a valuable point at home to one of the tournament’s title hopefuls.
And Icardi was also the man responsible for Inter defeating Spurs 2-1 at the San Siro in the first round of group stage matches back in September: Christian Eriksen had given the English side a deserved lead, but the Argentine forward struck in the 85th minute to level the game, before Matias Vecino hit the winner at the end of regulation time.
Tottenham have been playing catch-up ever since, but on Wednesday night they may have the chance to truly bring themselves back into the race for the knockout phase.
Tottenham Hotspur v Internazionale – European competitions
Matches played 5
Spurs wins 2
Inter wins 3
Draws 0
Last five results (Champions league only, most recent first)
Spurs – WDLLL
Inter – DLWWW