Champions League preview: Inter Milan v Marseille

Inter Milan broke their poor run of form just in time for their Champions League round-of-16 second-leg against Marseille on Tuesday.

Claudio Ranieri’s men were winless in nine matches in all competitions before recording a 2-0 victory at Chievo in Serie A on Friday.

The win eased the pressure on the under-fire Ranieri, although failure to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Marseille could spell the end for the Italian manager.

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti again threw his support behind Ranieri after goals from Walter Samuel and Diego Milito gave the Serie A giants a much-needed win against Chievo.

“It’s not easy for a coach to read in the papers every day that there’s a new coach coming in to replace him,” Moratti told Sky Sport Italia.

“Ranieri is professional, he’s getting on with his job and he has my complete support in this difficult time that he’s experiencing and that we’re trying to get through.”

With the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Diego Forlan and Milito in his side, Ranieri would expect his team to overcome Marseille in the second leg.

Since the 1-0 win over Inter on February 22, Marseille have lost four straight Ligue 1 matches to slip to eighth on the table.

Didier Deschamps’ men have failed to score in all four of those outings, although star forward Loic Remy returned from injury to play 45 minutes in the loss to Ajaccio on Friday.

Remy, who has been linked with a move to Tottenham, will provide the spark Marseille have been missing in recent league outings.

Marseille have been unable to advance to the last eight of the Champions League since winning the competition in 1993.

An early goal at the San Siro would be a huge advantage for Marseille, but their recent struggles in attack suggest they will find it difficult to break through.

Ranieri will be desperate to see his side progress to the quarter-finals to ease the pressure on his position.