Ivory Coast forward Ange-Yoan Bonny could play an important role as Inter Milan seek to revive their UEFA Champions League campaign against Shakhtar Donetsk, with the Italian side desperate for their first points of the competition.
Inter have lost their opening two matches against Real Madrid and Club Brugge, leaving the 2025 finalists under pressure to improve their results and keep their European ambitions alive.
The Italian side face a Shakhtar team that has made a more promising start, collecting four more points than Inter after drawing with PSV and beating AEK Athens 3-1.
Bonny, 22, has emerged as an attacking option for Inter after switching his international allegiance from France to Ivory Coast.
His recent contributions in both the Champions League and Serie A have strengthened his case for a prominent role as the club look to turn their fortunes around.
The forward has produced important moments off the bench, including a stoppage-time goal and assist against Club Brugge.
He also scored in Inter’s 3-1 victory over Bologna at the weekend, giving the Ivorian another boost ahead of the European fixture.
With captain Lautaro Martínez injured, Bonny is expected to be considered for a starting role alongside Marcus Thuram. The pair could offer Inter pace and movement as they attempt to break through Shakhtar’s defence.
Inter’s difficult start has increased the importance of the match. The club, who finished runners-up in the Champions League in both 2023 and 2025, have suffered defeats in their first two fixtures of the current campaign.
Their opening loss came against Real Madrid, before Club Brugge inflicted another setback in Milan. Inter’s recent European form has also been troubling, with the team losing seven of their last eight Champions League matches.
The defeat by Club Brugge was particularly painful. Despite Lautaro Martínez scoring twice, Inter were beaten by the Belgian side after Nicolo Tresoldi scored a hat-trick.
The result ended a long-standing record in which Inter had never lost any of their previous 85 European matches when scoring at least three goals.
The club’s struggles follow their exit at the first knockout round last season, when they lost both legs of their tie against Bodo/Glimt.
Head coach Cristian Chivu now faces the challenge of restoring confidence and finding a winning formula.
Shakhtar, meanwhile, will approach the contest with greater confidence after taking four points from their opening two games.
The Ukrainian side drew with Dutch champions PSV before securing a 3-1 victory over AEK Athens.
They showed resilience in the latter match, recovering after falling behind to claim victory through goals from Pedrinho, Vinicius Tobias and Gleiker Mendoza. The performance gave the team, coached by Arda Turan, a positive result to build on.
Shakhtar have traditionally featured a strong contingent of South American players, and their goals against AEK continued that influence.
The club have also had to operate away from their home city of Donetsk, using a temporary base in the circumstances surrounding the war in Ukraine.
Despite their encouraging start, Shakhtar have a difficult historical record against Inter. They have yet to win any of their seven competitive meetings with the Italian club, scoring only once across those encounters.
Inter will hope that history and home advantage can help them overcome their current problems, but their recent results mean they cannot afford another poor performance.
