The first leg of the Champions League group stage in quartet C played out precisely as analysts and experts had predicted. Both fixtures were won by the favourites, and in the case of Barcelona v. Viktoria, the hosts expectedly thrashed their opponents. Overall, the Czech club had little illusion about their prospects in the group of death, but Bilek's men will do their best at home. That's what Inter's players must realise after a home defeat to Bayern a week ago. Bookmakers ahead of the match considered the Italian vice-champion to be the clear favourite, offering an average odds of 1.42 to win.

The transfer value of Viktoria's core squad is 25 times lower than Inter's, but Champions League history remembers the exploits of Sheriff, Rostov and many other modest teams that beat top clubs in the group stage. The Czech champion took turns against HIC, Sherif and Karabakh in qualifying for Europe's top tournament. In parallel, the club from Pilsen achieved stable results in the national championship, where they lost just two points in seven rounds played. Overall, Viktoria are in decent form and are a well-organised team.

Of course, Inter are a team from "another world" for the Czechs. That said, the Italian vice-champion has had a dubious start to the season. In their seven official games, Mancini's charges have lost to all three of their strongest opponents: Lazio, AC Milan and Bayern. Inter were unable to compete with Bayern Munich. Halfway through the first half, the German champions took a 2-0 lead at the Giuseppe Meazza. Inter's tricky situation was underlined by Saturday's game against Torino, in which Mancini's side scored the only goal of the match in the 89th minute after hitting twice as many shots on target.

Victoria and Inter have not previously met in European competitions, but the Italian team will obviously come into the match with the task of picking up three points. It is unlikely that the Czechs will get a result through defense alone, so they will rely on counterattacking and home-field advantage. It is likely that at least three goals will be scored in the match.