Champions League, Inter clears Lisbon. Against all odds, the Nerazzurri continued to win From Luz from Lisbon. A heart and character test. Inter reversed its destiny: from the sad everyday life of the Italian championship to European glory. He did it with full merit, with courage and realism, scoring two goals in the second half through Nicolò Barella and Romelu Lukaku and conceding none.
In the second leg a San Siro It will be necessary to repeat such a feat without speculating too much on the advantage: certainly the profile of an all-Italian semifinal now begins to be a possibility. An important evening for Simone Inzaghi, who has been in the crosshairs for some time for his decisions and performance in Serie A. He will have the opportunity to face the team’s next commitments in a calmer atmosphere.
Champions League, Inter clears Lisbon: the game in the first half
Simone Inzaghi starts with his cup duo Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez. Romelu Lukaku is still on the bench, the man of Porto’s qualifying goal but also the goals devoured in the last Serie A. For the rest, Marcelo Brozovic is there to plug the hole created by the absence of Hakan Calhanoglu during Milan Skriniar’s ongoing injury, Matteo Darmian has had to step up in defense and cede control of the right wing to Denzel Dumfries .
In the first 10 minutes, Inter… makes Benfica, in the sense that they show dribbling and courage, but soon, propelled by the deafening cheers of the From Luz, it is the Portuguese who start occupying the field, even without the high frequencies observed on other occasions. And also the first chance of the game comes and André Onana’s first save: the nice thing is that Federico Dimarco supports the goblin Rafa Silva with an incredible header.
Overall, however, the Nerazzurri managed to withstand the impact for a long time with careful coverage and intelligent pressing, but sometimes more precision would have been needed to be dangerous up front, both in the last pass (see a big mistake by Lautaro Martinez who could have put Edin Dzeko in goal) and in the flanks of the two wingers Denzel Dumfries and Fedrico Dimarco.
In the final, Inter led red alert into the opposing air: it was fully signed by Lautaro Martinez, who first spread well from side to side and then arrived too early at Fedrico Dimarco’s flying cross. It’s a major first-half regret but a signal of a challenge that the Nerazzurri are ready to bite in the second half.
Champions League, Inter clears Lisbon: a great comeback for the Nerazzurri
Benfica’s ball speed, rarely seen in the first half, made itself felt early in the second, with the Red Shirt Eagles appearing to have shifted gears when play resumed. They all start playing quickly with two touches and to stop Rafa Silva Marcelo Brozovic issues a dangerous yellow card. Despite everything, the Nerazzurri managed to make it 0-1 in the first attack of the second half: Nicolò Barella headed in from a cross from Alessandro Bastoni. Nonsense for those who are just 1.72 cm tall. It is the reward for those who, despite everything, had desire, courage and clarity.
The goal made the game even more exciting and the waves of the hosts more violent. We’ll need another corpse intervention from Denzel Dumfries almost on the line, more or less like the Dutchman’s insane Porto comeback, to avoid an instant draw. At this point, Simone Inzaghi changes the offensive duo, replacing Joaquin Correa and Romelu Lukaku and the left wing with Robin Gosens for Federico Dimarco: it’s a way to look for fresh counterattackers and break the sluggishness of the game when it’s still half ‘ Now’ there
Wasted chances first by Henrik Mkhytarian served by Joaquin Correa and then by Denzel Dumfries. But the Dutchman gets the penalty himself: his cross finds ex-Joao Mario’s convict arm, caught by the Var. Great Rome unforgivable from the floppy disk. In the final action of the game, another miraculous save by André Onana, worthy of a more peaceful return San Siro.
Champions League, Inter clears Lisbon: the match report
Here is the schedule:
Benfica Lisbon (4-2-3-1): Vlachodimos; Gilberto, Antonio Silva, Morato, Grimaldo; Chiquinho, Florentino (19th David Neres); Joao Mario, Rafa Silva, Aurnes; ramos Extras: Soares, Gomes, Verissimo, Guedes, Tengstedt, Schjelderup, Musa, Rodrigues, Tomé, N’Dour, Neves. All: Schmidt
Inter Milan (3-5-2): onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni (46. De Vrij); Dumfries (41st D’Ambrosio), Barella, Brozovic, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco (17th Gosens); Martinez (17th Lukaku), Dzeko (17th Correa). Available: Handanovic, Cordaz, Gagliardini, Bellanova, Asllani, Carboni, Zanotti. All.: Inzaghi
Referee: Oliver (England)
Scorers: 6′ st Barella, 37′ st rig. Lukaku
