The Nerazzurri draw at San Siro after the 2-0 success in Lisbon and enter the top four in Europe: the first leg of the two-legged tie against the Rossoneri is in three weeks
After 13 years, Inter are once again in the semifinals of the Champions League where they will face Milan. It will be a thrilling Euroderby in which the Nerazzurri will try to avenge the two lost in 2002-03 and 2004-05. After the 2-0 in Portugal, Inzaghi’s men drew 3-3 against Benfica and, even if they didn’t have a picnic, they fully deserved to go through. Certainly the performance offered, in terms of offensive concreteness, attention and determination, is very different from the last ones in the league. In short, Inter continues to have two faces, but in Europe it works because Brozovic returns to his golden days for one night and Lautaro, in addition to breaking a fast that had lasted since 5 March, improves his statistics a bit in the most prestigious cup. It will be a double battle against Milan, but after a point won in the last 5 Serie A matches, the signal sent by the Nerazzurri is important.
Eurogol Barella
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Inzaghi starts with the same formation that conquered Da Luz 8 days ago, or with Lautaro and Dzeko forward plus the “quarrelsome” Brozovic and Onana as owners. Schmidt replies by confirming ten elevenths of the first leg: the only change is the returning Otamendi in place of the disqualified Morato. Inter, dragged along by its people, approached the match well: the team didn’t get crushed despite pressure from Benfica, they defended in a compact way also helped by the forwards and showed courage when they had the field available. Lautaro wastes an excellent restart with a wrong pass to Dimarco, but on the second occasion, the nerazzurri hit the target: Dzeko wins a midfield tackle with Otamendi, the Bull he perfects the recovery of the ball, duets with Barella who, having arrived in the area, “sits down” Antonio Silva and draws a left-footed shot that scores into the top corner. For the Sardinian, capable of scoring the 1-0 even in the first leg, it is the eighth center of 2022-23, a career scoring record for the season. The last Nerazzurri midfielder to score three goals in an edition of the Champions League was Sneijder, in 2009-10 and 2010-11. The first is a good precedent given… how that year ended.
Benfica reaction
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The Meazza is a bedlam and the Portuguese, already shaken by three knockouts in a row, feel the pinch. Their first shot came in the 30th minute, with a 25-metre free-kick from Grimaldo, but Onana was careful and dived in to defuse the danger. Del Cerro Grande rightly cancels a goal from Lautaro who helps himself with a push on Gilberto to score. Benfica draws life from the narrow escape and equalizes with a punch from Aursnes on Rafa Silva’s cross: Darmian keeps Rafa Silva in the game, author of the cross, Dumfries doesn’t close on the Norwegian and the match suddenly restarts, also because Inter He immediately “feels” fear and lowers his center of gravity by about ten metres. The ghosts of the championship come back to hover in the head of Brozovic and his teammates who let their opponents dribble up to their frontline. They wait out the interval like a boxer who has taken a nasty blow and waits for the end of the round trying to limit the damage. The double whistle from the Spanish referee comes with the score still at 1-1 and Inzaghi can breathe.
Schmidt move, but the Bull…
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Benfica returned from the locker room with an even more offensive team because Schmidt introduced David Neres by removing full-back Gilberto. Aursnes goes in defense, on the right, and the Portuguese play the charge with an aggressive 4-2-3-1 in which the ex Joao Mario moves to the left, in the trio of attacking midfielders. Inter proves they are there with a shot just wide from Lautaro, but they have to watch their backs and think above all about avoiding the central holes. The ball possession of the Eagles becomes even more marked (70% in the 15th minute) and the match is taken over by the Portuguese, with Inzaghi’s men using only long balls. The Nerazzurri seem destined for a second fraction of suffering and instead, after wasting a good opportunity with Dzeko, they score the 2-1 with Lautaro. Merit of Dimarco who dictates the deep pass for Mkhitaryan, gets the triangle and puts a ball in the center that the Bull it just has to push into the net. San Siro explodes and vibrates like in magical nights, with the team nearly 3-1 with Dimarco. Again ahead by three goals in the double confrontation, Inzaghi makes three changes all together: inside Calhanoglu, Lukaku and Correa for Barella, Dzeko and Lautaro, while Gonçalo Guedes takes over Gonçalo Ramos. However, Benfica is gone and Correa invents a crazy goal, that of 3-1, with a right-footed shot from inside the area. He hasn’t scored since 29 October: incredible, but true. Gosens and D’Ambrosio also enter for the finale, but the match is now “concluded” and qualification is safe. Neres punches in the post, Antonio Silva and Musa find the goals to make it 3-3, but the Meazza is already celebrating and preparing for the derby in the semifinal against the Diavolo.
April 19, 2023 (change April 20, 2023 | 02:11)
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