Courtesy of their 2-0 win in Portugal in the first leg, Internazionale remain unbeaten in all four meetings with Benfica (W3 D1), keeping a clean sheet in three of those matches.
Benfica have already won away to Italian opposition in the Uefa Champions League this season, beating Juventus 2-1 during the group stages; they were winless in six such games prior to that match (D1 L5), with their previous win away to an Italian team coming against Fiorentina in the Cup Winners’ Cup in March 1997.
Internazionale have hosted Benfica once previously, beating them 4-3 in a Uefa Cup last-16 match in March 2004. The game featured two braces – one from Inter’s Obafemi Martins and another from Benfica’s Nuno Gomes.
Benfica lost the first leg of a two-legged European Cup/Champions League tie by 2+ goals for the ninth time; only once previously have they progressed from such a position, eliminating FC Nürnberg at the quarterfinal stage in 1961-62 despite losing the first leg 1-3 – they won the second leg 6-0.
Internazionale won the first leg of a two-legged European Cup/Champions League tie by 2+ goals for the ninth time in this tie’s reverse fixture – they have never been eliminated from such a position.
Benfica are currently unbeaten in seven away matches in the Uefa Champions League (W4 D3) – this is their longest ever unbeaten run away from home in the European Cup/Champions League. They have won their last two away matches and could win three in a row for the first time since March 1990.
Internazionale could reach the final four of the European Cup/Champions League for the ninth time, and for the first time since 2009-10 when they won the competition under José Mourinho. Simone Inzaghi would be the first Italian coach to lead Inter to the semifinals of the competition since Eugenio Bersellini in 1980-81.
Since the beginning of the 2016-17 campaign, only Paris Saint-Germain (17) have given away more penalties in the Uefa Champions League than Benfica (13), giving away their third penalty of this campaign in the first leg.
Gonçalo Ramos has been directly involved in four goals in his last four Uefa Champions League appearances for Benfica (three goals and one assist). On top of his attacking contribution, he is crucial to Benfica’s pressing out of possession, where he has applied more pressures (674) and pressures in the final third (299) than any other striker in the competition this season.
Romelu Lukaku has scored nine goals in 14 appearances for Internazionale in the Uefa Champions League, with only four players now scoring more goals for the club in the competition – Adriano (14), Julio Cruz (13), Hernán Crespo (11) and Samuel Eto’o (10)