He betrays Pavard, he betrays Lautaro, they betray everyone: Inter throws their European dream away.
There are evenings when everything goes well, others when everything goes wrong. There are evenings however when you are the architect of your own destiny. This was one of those and Inter must blame themselves first and foremost for how their Spanish away match ended. These Considerations should talk about Atletico’s victory and the passage of Simeone’s team but it is not possible to start without talking about qhow much Inzaghi’s team wasted, squandered and vanished a qualification that was concrete until we took to the pitch. The double advantage thrown away, the goalscoring actions not materialised, we could go on forever. The fact is that Inter is out of the Champions League and the demerit of having missed the qualification will remain as the most infamous stain of the season;
We should talk about the match then, but it is still a home and away match and this evening’s defeat is not just the result of the penalties saved by Oblak or the Nerazzurri’s defensive errors. Go and reread the Considerations from three weeks ago: we were talking about making so many mistakes in the finishing phase and above all wasting so much in the finalization makes every victory incomplete and shaky. Let’s repeat it once again: no team can afford to miss so many clear chances. Especially in a Champions League round of 16 match, especially if you play the qualifiers at the home of an emotionally and mentally superior team like Atletico Madrid. Qualification thus stops at the errors of the first leg but especially those of Dumfries, Thuram and Barella in the one-on-one against the goalkeeper, it stops at that Harsh law of goals which tonight rewards the meanest and most mature team;
Support Sportellate: associates Our work is based on the commitment and passion of a young editorial staff. Through the association you help us grow and always improve the quality of the content. Join now!
Already after the match there will be discussions about blame and responsibility. Inzaghi will end up in the dock again and we will certainly have to talk about some mistakes he made in preparing for the match. Inter appeared for long stretches too timid and wait-and-see in the setup phase and confusing in the defensive phase. Of course, there was a lead to defend in the wolf’s den, but the team almost always showed too much distance between midfield and attackdifficulty in finding outlets on the flanks and inability to raise one’s center of gravity in the most intense phases of the sorties colchoneros. The errors in the preparation phase add up to one disastrous choice of spot-kick shooters: not that Inter excels in this fundamental, but the decision to let two newly introduced players like Sanchez and Klaassen shoot is extremely questionable. The way the Chilean and Dutch shot from the spot then makes the list absolutely indefensible;
In all this, Atletico did not appear in yet another Inter psychodrama but he deserved to go through playing an extraordinarily intense match, which is invariably based on the endless run of Simeone’s boys. Atletico won because, despite never being the best team on the pitch, he knew how to throw his heart over the obstacle: never going to challenge Simeone on his nervous and mental strength. Inter was cold chestAtletico no and the performance of Savic e Witsel they will remain in everlasting memory to testify what it means to play a game from inside or outside at these levels; the face of death with which Lautaro appears on the spot to take the decisive penalty, instead, the symbol of a team that was afraid and was unable to overcome it. More than any tactical or technical error, the match was lost there;
There is little to salvage after an evening like this. In the post-game excitement, perhaps only two come to mind. The extraordinary performance of Yann Bisseck it is one of those unlined by those who are used to playing games of this kind from birth. An immense personality and excellent qualities in both phases make the German the best on the pitch together with the namesake Sommer, who has actively kept a team on the verge of collapsing prematurely several times. The second is that of a season that remains extraordinary despite such a painful elimination.
The article Atlético Madrid-Inter (2-1) (3-2 acr.) – Considerazioni Sparse comes from Sportellate.