(Football news) The hosts return to Europe’s top tournament after a ten-year absence, while the visitors make their first appearance in the final of the championship since losing to Manchester City. Real Sociedad qualified for the Champions League group stage this year after spending the previous 10 seasons outside of the continent’s premier competition. Imanol Alguacil’s team finished fourth in La Liga last year, amassing 71 points from their 38 games.

Additionally, La Real competed in the Europa League, winning five of their six games and losing just once against Manchester United. They finished first in their group with 15 points, guaranteeing them a spot in the round of 16. During that time, they scored 10 goals and only gave up two, and they advanced automatically to the next stage.

Due to this, Alguacil’s team met Roma in the round of 16 and received automatic advancement to the knockout stage. However, they were unable to defeat the eventual runners-up, losing 2-0 away in the Italian capital thanks to goals from Stephan El Shaarawy and Marash Kumbulla, before their home leg ended goalless and they were eliminated as a result.

Following their successful league campaign, the Basque team has not yet been able to continue where they left off in the new season, managing just six points from their opening five La Liga games. After starting the season with three straight draws, they finally managed to earn their first three points in an exciting 5-3 victory over Granada, thanks to goals from Takefusa Kubo twice, Martin Zubimendi, Ander Barrenetxea, and an own goal by Miki Bosch.

Alguacil’s team will look to bounce back and begin their return to Champions League play on Wednesday with a home victory after suffering a 2-1 loss at league leaders Real Madrid at the weekend, in which they went ahead through Barrenetxea in the first half only for Los Blancos to turn the game around with goals from Federico Valverde and Joselu.

They take on an Inter Milan team that entered the current Champions League season having failed at the very last minute in their attempt to win the continental championship for the fourth time and their first since 2010 the previous season.

After finishing second in their group behind Bayern Munich with 10 points and beating out giants Barcelona to a spot in the round of 16, Simone Inzaghi’s team advanced past Porto and Benfica of Portugal with 1-0 and 5-3 aggregate triumphs, respectively.

This led to a matchup with rival AC Milan in the semifinals, and after winning the first leg 2-0 at the San Siro on the strength of early goals from Edin Dzeko and Henrik Mkhitaryan, they sealed the victory on the overall score with a 1-0 victory the following week. They then faced Manchester City in the championship game, where they ultimately fell short, losing 1-0 to the English champions as Rodri scored the game’s only goal 22 minutes from time.

After an admirable run through the competition and a third-place finish in Serie A, I Nerazzurri head into their Champions League opener on the back of a perfect start to the new Italian season, having won their first four outings by scoring 13 goals and conceding once, most recently thrashing AC Milan 5-1 in the Derby della Madonnina as Mkhitaryan netted a brace alongside goals from Marcus Thuram, Hakan Calhanog and

With momentum on their side following that start and the weekend’s victory over their opponents, Inzaghi’s men will go to the Basque Country with the goal of starting with three points in their effort to return to the top flight of Europe.

Real Sociedad form in all competitions

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Inter Milan Form in all competitions

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Also read: Real Madrid set to play Union Berlin in UCL 2023