Champions League, Inter-Barcelona 1-0.
Inter take the field with the 3-5-2 with Onana starting in goal in place of Handanovic, Mkhitaryan in place of Asllani and Correa in place of Dzeko. Barcelona, in splendid form, fields striker Lewandowski in attack flanked by Dembelé and Raphinha.
Barcelona started strong and managed the ball looking for spaces between the lines in the midfield and in the Nerazzurri defence. Inter tries to resist and attacks on the counterattack, taking advantage of portions of the pitch left uncovered by the Catalan team. The first opportunity falls at the feet of Chalanoglu who shoots from thirty meters and is met with a ready response from Ter Stegen. In the twenty-second minute there is a doubtful episode in the Blaugrana area, where Garcia moves the ball with his arm; the referee goes to VAR but blows the whistle for Lautaro's offside. Inter did not give up and continued to attack, so much so that in the twenty-eight minute a deep throw caught Correa all alone as he flew towards the Barcelona goal, jumped Ter Stegen and deposited it into the net, but the referee canceled everything for offside. Barcelona tries all the time, but Inter are very good in defense and don't let themselves be surprised. The referee grants three minutes of injury time and in the forty-sixth minute the Nerazzurri start on the counterattack again: a pass for Darmian who passes it through the middle for Lautaro, the Argentine striker is blocked and on the rebound Chalanoglu slings in and from outside the area beats Ter Stegen with a precise diagonal in the corner. Inter ends the first half with a 1-0 lead.
The second half begins with Barcelona trying to push, closing Inter in their own half. In the fifty-fifth minute here are the first changes of the match: Inter replaces Correa for Dzeko and Barça inserts Piqué for the injured Christensen. In the sixtieth minute here was the first real opportunity for the Catalan team who recovered the ball in mid-field and restarted finding Inter exposed, the ball for Dembelé who kicked, but the ball hit the post with Onana in the path. At this point Xavi tries to shake up his team by inserting Ansu for Raphinha and Baldé for Marcos Alonso. The shock comes a few minutes later, when Dembelé crosses into the middle, Onana takes it away from Ansu Fati's head, but inadvertently serves Pedri who scores with an empty net. The referee is called to VAR and recognizes the handball of Barcelona's 10, thus canceling the draw. Inzaghi makes three changes in the seventy-fifth minute, bringing in Dumfries, Acerbi and Gosens for Darmian, De Vrij and Dimarco. Inter closes to defend the lead and tries to restart, completely suffering the enveloping play of the Blaugrana. In the eighty-eighth Busquets tries to head a free kick from Dembelè, but the ball goes high. The referee grants eight minutes of injury time due to Inter's suffering, who cling to the result by their nails, trying to defend in every way. Dembelé in the ninety-fifth minute sent shivers through San Siro with a cross-shot that ended up just wide. After almost 100 minutes the curtain falls at the Meazza, which is a bedlam in ecstasy because Inter emerge victorious from a very complicated match, in a very delicate moment.
With a match full of heart, determination and suffering, the Nerazzuri rise to second place in the group with 6 points behind Bayern Munich, while Barcelona stop at three points in third place.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright La Milano