Inter has long stumbled against the Madrid wall and its goalkeeper Jan Oblak. But, after numerous attempts, the Milanese found the fault, and achieved deserved success. It took 17 shots for Simone Inzaghi’s players to score the only goal in the Champions League round of 16 first leg at the Giuseppe-Meazza stadium this Tuesday evening.
The author of this goal replaced Marcus Thuram at half-time, after the Frenchman’s right adductor was injured. But before slipping a ball pushed back by Jan Oblak (79th) into the goal, on a shot from Lautaro Martinez, Marko Arnautović missed several huge opportunities. In the 49th minute, after a sublime ball release from the Italians, the Austrian striker was served in the area by Frederico Dimarco. Absolutely alone, he missed his recovery.
Arnautović caught up well
A few minutes later, Marko Arnautović missed an even bigger chance. After a superb one-two in the area with Lautaro Martinez, he missed his face-to-face with Jan Oblak by shooting over (63rd). Initially an unhappy hero, he finally delivered his loved ones. Faced with this dominant but often ineffective Inter, Atlético de Madrid showed nothing.
Frustrated, Antoine Griezmann almost had no ball to eat. The French team striker also gave up his place in the 78th minute, injured in the right ankle. One number reflects the lack of spectacle offered by the two teams in the first period: the first shot on target of the match took place in the 37th minute. On a header at the near post, Lautaro Martinez called on Jan Oblak, who was not worried about this situation.
At the microphone of Canal +, Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan regretted the lack of edge of his team: “We wanted to score more goals. But 1-0 isn’t bad. We know very well that Atlético defend very well. » As a preamble to the match, a vibrant tribute was paid to Andreas Brehme. The former Inter player, world champion with Germany in 1990, died in the night from Monday to Tuesday, at the age of 63.
In the other match of the evening, Borussia Dortmund took the lead against PSV Eindhoven. Dutch striker Donyell Malen opened the scoring in the 24th minute, with a shot deflected by Sergino Dest. Realistically, the German club returned to the break with this one-goal advantage, without dominating.
The lead of Marco Rose’s players quickly collapsed in the second half. Central defender Mats Hummels made an illegal tackle on Malik Tillman and caused a penalty. Luuk De Jong, the former FC Barcelona striker, converted this one and scored his third goal of the season in the Champions League. A deserved equalizer for Peter Bosz’s PSV.
