Inter Milan could move into the Champions League final tonight (9 p.m., live ticker at sportschau.de). Old acquaintances from the Bundesliga play a key role in this: Edin Dzeko, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu are top performers for the “Nerazzurri”.
Edin Dzeko’s first goal in the Champions League was almost 14 years ago – back then he was still in the green and white jersey for VfL Wolfsburg. After winning the championship sensationally, Dzeko went hunting for goals in the European bel étage for the first time in the 2009/2010 season. After all, there were four goals in his first season. Today he is 29, his youngest was only a week ago.
Dzeko, who is now 37, plays a crucial role at Inter Milan. It wasn’t striker Romelu Lukaku who started the 2-0 win in the first leg against city rivals AC, but the Bosnian. His early goal to make it 1-0 set the stage for a game that Inter dominated at times. The “Swan of Sarajevo”, as Dzeko is called in Italy, had previously remained without a goal for a long time. From January to May he failed to score. Here, however, the experience of more than 700 competitive games pays off: “I stayed calm because I knew the goals would come – as always.”
Bargain from Rome
Dzeko moved to Italy after a successful stint with two league titles at Manchester City. There he first went in search of goals for AS Roma before moving to Inter two years ago. With a transfer fee of just under three million, it’s a bargain. The Milanese made another bargain this season with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who even moved from Rome on a free transfer. Admittedly, the ex-Dortmunder is no longer the youngest at 34. But like Dzeko, he is one of his team’s all-time favorites with over 40 competitive games. Last week Mkhitaryan made it 2-0 – with Dzeko he was the match winner of the game. For the first time, two professionals older than 34 met in a premier class knockout game.
Mkhitaryan was then named “Man of the Match” by UEFA. The Armenian was under contract with Borussia Dortmund from 2013 to 2016. Committed with a record transfer fee of 27.5 million euros at the time, he could never really live up to expectations. Although he played a total of 140 competitive games (41 goals), reached three cup finals and was runner-up twice, his only title was the DLF Supercup 2014. Other positions at Manchester United, Arsenal and Rome brought more success in this regard: two European titles the Armenian won by winning the Europa League in 2017 and the Conference League last year. As the first player ever, Mkhitaryan could complete the European trophy range this year.
Is Calhanoglu’s rival move now paying off?
The third acquaintance from the Bundesliga is also a top performer for the “Nerazurri”. Hakan Calhanoglu, who was born in Mannheim, has played more than 3,000 minutes this season and has been involved in twelve goals. In the first leg he prepared Dzeko’s 1-0 with a corner and just missed the 3-0 with a hit on the post. The 29-year-old, who made a name for himself with his set-pieces at Hamburger SV and Bayer Leverkusen, has developed into a central midfielder of international stature in Italy.
Ironically, Calhanoglu spent his first four years in Italy with city rivals AC. After finishing runners-up in the 2020/2021 season with AC, he switched to Inter – to become runners-up there again. The fact that his ex-club then got the Scudetto after years of dry spells brought him malice from Milan player Zlatan Ibrahimovic: “Send a greeting to Hakan,” Ibrahimovic called into the microphone to the fans at the championship celebration. But this year the change could pay off: the Champions League final would be the highlight of his career. For the captain of the Turkish national team, which is played in Istanbul, that has a very special appeal.
And Gosens?
What is curious is that the only German in the Inter Milan squad has no Bundesliga experience at all. Robin Gosens recovered just in time for the first leg after his shoulder injury, but was on the bench for 90 minutes. He came on as a substitute in the 4-2 win at the weekend, but is unlikely to start tonight. With the ex-Bundesliga top performers, there is a high probability that they will all be back on the pitch today. Your performances in the first leg and in the season clearly speak for it.