Inter, Arnautovic defeats Atletico Madrid. “One of the most important goals of my career”

Inter-Atletico Madrid 1-0, goal by Arnautovic

Inter wins the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Atletico Madrid 1-0 at San Siro, thanks to Marko Arnautovic's second-half goal. Intense and very tactical match that Inzaghi's team struggled to make their own, but in the end they deserved to win, albeit with the minimum gap that allows them to go to Madrid with a small advantage. The return match will be played on March 13th in Madrid.

Inter-Atletico Madrid 1-0 thanks to Arnautovic. The news

Inter arrive at the Champions League match on the strength of first place in the league and a 2024 season in which they won all the matches played in all competitions, while Simeone's Atletico arrive after a final run of fluctuating results. For the match at San Siro, Inzaghi sends out the typical lineup, with the exception of Acerbi, who is injured. De Vrij plays in his place in central defence, with Darmian preferred in Dumfries on the right lane. He confirms himself in midfield and in attack, where the duo of Lautaro Martinez and Thuram are not touched. Two absences, however, for Simeone, who has to do without Azpilicueta and Lemar. Gimenez wins the run-off with Savic in defence, with Molina and Lino on the two flanks, while Llorente joins Griezmann in attack.

Inter started well and in the 3rd minute Bastoni looked for the cross from the midfield due to Thuram's move to the far post, who manages to head but not find Oblak's goal. In the 13th minute the Nerazzurri protested for a handball from Molina but referee Kovacs allowed it to continue. The Nerazzurri continued to pass the ball around in search of space and in the 18th minute there was a great intervention by Witsel who intercepted a touch from De Vrij which would have put Thuram on goal. It's a very tactical match with the two teams very careful not to give away any space. In the 32nd minute Pavard tries to serve along Thuram, who heads the ball to Lautaro. The Argentine counter-balls from the edge but sends it high. The Nerazzurri number 10 increases in intensity and danger. In the 37th minute Barella crossed in the center of the area for Lautaro's header which preceded Gimenez, but failed to give a corner. A minute passes and Inter build the best chance of the first half. In the 38th minute De Paul misses the touch for Koke, Thuram intercepts and burns Witsel and serves Lautaro who controls and tries to cross but the shot comes out strangled and deflected by Gimenez. At the end of the first half Thuram widens for Barella, who returns the ball to the Frenchman, but the conclusion is too central.

At the beginning of the second half with Thuram not at his best Inzaghi introduces Arnautovic. The Austrian striker is immediately dangerous. In the 49th minute Dimarco receives Lautaro on the left, controls and crosses for Arnautovic who however misses the target. Simeone also changes, moving Llorente's position back, inserting Morata alongside Griezmann to give greater weight to the attack. And the first big opportunity for the Spaniards arrived immediately: in the 56th minute Lino jumped Darmian and passed for De Paul who returned the ball to him inside the area but shot just wide from a good position. In the 60th minute Lino serves Griezmann again, who passes the ball to Koke, a high-flying finish. Inter starts pushing again with greater vigor and in the 63rd minute Arnautovic makes another mistake. One-two with Lautaro serving again to the Austrian who controls and shoots a sure shot a stone's throw from the goal, sending it high in front of Oblak. The Nerazzurri want to win, with Atletico struggling to keep one-twos and taking risks in various situations. In the 77th minute Calhanoglu crossed for Lautaro in the area, anticipated by Savic and a header that Oblak blocked. The goal is in the air and arrives shortly after.

In the 79th minute, Reinildo's mistake in midfield, Lautaro takes off and kicks into the area but Oblak sacrifices himself and clears it, but the ball ends up in the area of ​​Arnautovic, who finishes on goal, Lino's saving attempt is not enough: 1- 0. Atletico tries to react immediately and in the 81st minute Lino is still the protagonist, but the sharp shot from distance grazes the post to the right of Sommer. With the last of their energy Atletico tried to equalize it and in the 88th minute the opportunity came to Morata who, disturbed by De Vrij, headed badly from an excellent position and sent it to the goal. In injury time Inter calmly managed the ball and stopped the Colchoneros' final forcing.

Inter-Atletico Madrid, Arnautovic: 'It's one of the most important goals of my career'

“It's one of the most important goals of my career. It wasn't an easy period, after the injuries I needed time. In recent weeks I haven't scored on many occasions and I'm here to do so, today I missed two that I should have scored but the fans and teammates made me feel that they were behind me. They gave me energy to score the goal.” the words of Inter striker Marko Arnautovic to Sky after the winning goal against Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League. “Is the group hug a sign for these matches? We are a fantastic group, the starters and those who come in show that we are a very strong group. Those who are out don't lower their heads, they always try to do everything to win. The group it's wonderful. Was the 1-0 too close? No, we won. We know that in Madrid it will be 0-0, it will be tough but we tried to win today. We will go there to win anyway.”

Inter, Inzaghi: 'Happy for Arnautovic, difficult return to Madrid'

“There is great satisfaction. The boys were very good because we played against a physical, technical team. It wasn't easy at all. An important return awaits us in Madrid. There is regret for what we did because we deserved something more, but this is football. It will be a difficult return but we will prepare in the best possible way.” explains Inter coach Simone Inzaghi to Sky after the 1-0 success over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. “How is Thuram? He felt the adductor pull, then felt more pain and we took it out. Let's hope we don't lose him for a long time”, added the Nerazzurri coach: “Arnautovic has come in very well, he is satisfying me as well as Sanchez, for how he trains and for how he comes in when I call him into action. I'm happy for Marko because he deserved the goal earlier because he entered very well. Ditto Alexis, he entered with the right spirit, they will both give us satisfaction.

“Any regrets? For what we created, probably yes. Last year Porto, compared to Benfica and Milan, was the one that created the most problems for us in reaching the final here in Milan too”, added Inzaghi who saw his midfield suffer more than on other occasions. “We had against a worthy opponent, but we played a highly valuable match. The result was 1-0, I have to review the match, but it wasn't easy. When they had the ball it wasn't easy to take it away from them, in the first half we made more technical mistakes than usual, but we were facing a difficult opponent: closed and compact. In the second half we moved the ball more and I think we deserved more than 1-0.”

However, Atletico never involved goalkeeper Sommer? Yes, they worked very well without the ball. They sacrificed a lot, they played as a team, then the substitutions helped us because at the start of the second half we weren't the same as usual. The substitutions made us get back up, we created many opportunities that we could have exploited better, but Sommer made zero saves. Of course, there were situations like those of Lino and Morata in which we could have done better”, added Inzaghi.

Atletico Madrid, Simeone: 'It was the match we wanted, then a major mistake'

“It was the match we wanted, we were very close to taking something away from Inter. We made an important mistake and they took advantage of it, as happened on other occasions when we lost important balls. But we played a good game, we stopped Inter's attacks and we had some important opportunities. Don't worry, we'll see what happens when we return to our stadium.” These are the words of Diego Simeone, on Sky after the defeat against Inter 1-0. “Will the public be able to make a difference when we return? The important thing is the field. We need to improve on the pitch and lose balls in midfield, they are strong. We must try to generate space for an important comeback. Inzaghi? Yes, we said goodbye. I love him, and I told him that I'm happy with what he is doing. See you at the Atletico stadium. If we believe in the comeback? Now let's think about Almeria and the other matches we will have”, added Cholo.