Inter defender Manuel Akanji enters the European phase of the 2026-27 season with the most demanding possible backdrop: the Champions League draw has handed Cristian Chivu's side fixtures against Liverpool and Real Madrid, two clubs that will examine every defensive unit in the competition with particular severity.
For a 31-year-old centre-back whose value to Inter is built on positional discipline and aerial authority rather than headline moments, the draw is a referendum on exactly the qualities he provides. Inter sit second in Serie A after one match, having opened with a 4-1 victory that left the defence conceding once. Akanji's average rating of 6.60 from that appearance is a workmanlike number — not a declaration, but a foundation. The question the Champions League will answer is whether that foundation holds against opponents operating at a different register of intensity.
Inter president Beppe Marotta has stated publicly that the club "have the right to dream" in the Champions League. That framing matters for Akanji specifically. Dreaming in Europe requires a back line that does not simply absorb pressure but organises against it, and the Swiss international is central to how Chivu's defence structures itself. Liverpool and Real Madrid will not offer the kind of space that a 4-1 Serie A opening suggests.
The draw also carries a subplot that runs through the squad more broadly: Curtis Jones, now at Liverpool, returns to face his former Nerazzurri teammates, and José Mourinho's reunion with Inter adds another layer of narrative weight to the group stage. None of that changes what Akanji must do — defend, communicate, and hold shape — but it raises the stakes of every performance between now and the knockout rounds.
With an AI overall score of 80 out of 100 and a Serie A campaign still in its earliest stage, Akanji has the profile of a defender who performs within systems rather than imposing himself on them. Against Liverpool and Real Madrid, that distinction will be tested. Inter's European ambitions depend on whether the collective holds. Akanji is a significant part of whether it does.