Round of 16
23 February 2005
20:45 (CET) O Drag?o - Porto


Omens are positive for Inter
Monday, 21 February 2005
Defending European champions FC Porto will seek their third home win in ten
attempts against Italian opposition when FC Internazionale Milano travel to
Portugal for the UEFA Champions League first knockout round at the Estádio
do Drag?o.

  

Porto were outmuscled by Inter's rivals Milan in the 2003 Super Cup


The Portuguese side ended a 21-year spell without a home win against an
Italian team when they defeated S.S. Lazio 4-1 in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup
semi-final, a competition they went on to win. Derlei scored twice with
Maniche and Hélder Postiga also among the goals. Porto's only previous
victory had come in the second round of the 1981/82 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
when AS Roma were on the receiving end of a 2-0 defeat.

Porto's away record, however, is more impressive having won three and drawn
one of their last four matches on Italian soil, including Champions League
group stage victories against Juventus FC and AC Milan. Their most recent
fixture against Italian opponents ended in disappointment, however, when
Andriy Shevchenko's tenth-minute goal gave Milan victory in the 2003 UEFA
Super Cup in Monaco.

Since defeating SL Benfica 1-0 in the 1964/65 European Champion Clubs' Cup
final at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan, Inter have met Portuguese
teams on seven occasions. Benfica also provided the most recent opposition
when the two sides met in the fourth round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup. Following
a scoreless draw in Lisbon, the sides battled out a seven-goal thriller in
Italy, which included a sequence of five goals in 16 second-half minutes.
Obafemi Martins scored twice for the home side with álvaro Recoba and
Christian Vieri also on target in a 4-3 win. Inter went on to lose to
Olympique de Marseille in the quarter-finals.

On their visits to Portugal, Inter have recorded one win, four draws and only
one defeat. Their sole victory came in Porto at the expense of Boavista FC in
the third round of the 1996/97 UEFA Cup. At home, Inter remain unbeaten
against Portuguese opposition, boasting six wins and a draw.

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