Inter Milan 0-2 Real Madrid
When the Champions League draw paired these sides together in Group B, it seemed the best the other two teams (Borussia Monchengladbach and Shakhtar Donetsk) could hope for was a third-place finish.
Here were record 13-times Kings of Europe, Real Madrid, and big-spending Inter Milan, Europa League finalists last term, vying for glory.
Champions League highlights and top spot in the group would surely be decided by their head-to-head clashes.
Well, as Inter welcomed Real to the San Siro at the halfway stage of the group, the two occupied the bottom two positions.
While the other two sides were far from out of reach, the possibility of one or both Euro giants failing to get through to the knockout phase was a very real one.
Highlights of the game
Well, that seems even more certain now and it’s Antonio Conte’s Inter who are the big underachievers.
If this contest was to prove half as exciting as when Real edged a five-goal thriller three weeks ago, SBOTOP fans were in for a treat.
Fresh off the back of a 1-1 draw with Villarreal at the weekend, manager Zinedine Zidane named an unchanged side and had the start he must have dreamed of. For his former Juventus team-mate Conte, it was quite the opposite.
Zinedine Zidane and Antonio Conte shake hands after their Champions League clash
Nicolo Barella ran into the back of Nacho and clipped his heels for an obvious penalty which Eden Hazard converted with power, despite the best efforts of Samir Handanovic.
Lucas Vazquez almost made it 2-0, only to see a snapshot bounce off the base of the post, and Hazard stung Handanovic’s gloves as the visitors started with purpose.
Inter, whose squad strength put Real’s injury-hit one in the shade, then suffered another blow as ex-Barcelona man Arturo Vidal – who enjoyed some ding-dong battles with Real in La Liga – went down in the box under pressure from two opponents.
Vidal was swiftly shown two yellow cards in quick succession, at least one of which was for dissent, to reduce Inter to 10 men.
The Chilean’s tempestuous moment was a blow from which the Nerazzurri would not recover.
It took desperate defending from the visitors to stop Stefan De Vrij from tapping in a Romelu Lukaku nod down, while Thibaut Courtois produced a fine stop to deny Ivan Perisic.
Between then, though, Real had doubled their advantage as substitute Rodrygo – within a minute of entering the fray – expertly volleyed home a Lucas Vazquez cross.
Even an Inter goal would not have hidden the fact here is a side containing some of the best and most expensively acquired players in recent seasons, yet still massively underachieving despite heavily backing Conte.
With two group games remaining, Inter hopes of progress appear in tatters.
You don’t need to assess the Champions League betting odds to realise that.
Key statistics
Vidal is one of three players to have been sent off for three different clubs in the Champions League (Inter, Bayern Munich and Barcelona), along with Patrick Vieira and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Hazard is the second Real player to score an away goal against Inter in a Champions League game after Clarence Seedorf netted in November 1998.
Rodrygo has been involved in nine goals in this competition (six goals and three assists), four more than in his 24 league games for the club.
In the last 12 matches between Real and Inter in European competition, this was only the second time an away side had triumphed.
Real have won 10 of their last 11 Champions League games against Italian opponents (lost one), with the exception a 3-1 defeat to Juventus in the 2018 Champions League quarter-finals (they still progressed and went onto win the competition). They have also now won in Italy five times in a row.
This was Real’s first success in the San Siro at the eighth attempt after five defeats and two draws.
Of the last 11 games between the two sides, there have been five wins apiece with the other ending all square.
Inter have only won two of their last 14 Champions League matches, although Madrid have lost six of their previous 15 UCL games.
What’s next?
It’s back to domestic duties for both sides as now as Inter travel to Sassuolo in Serie A on Saturday afternoon, while Real host Alaves on Saturday night in La Liga.
Europe returns when Inter are in Germany next Tuesday to face Borussia Monchengladbach, at the same time as Real try and avenge a shock 3-2 defeat at the hands of Donetsk – despite the Ukrainian underdogs having to field a virtual reserve team.
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The post Conte’s Champions League Hopes in Tatters appeared first on SBOTOP.