Luis Núñez-VillavearánSpecial Envoy Milan
Special Envoy Milan
Updated Tuesday, February 20, 2024-23:04
In one of the countless and endless conversations about football between
Simeone
and
Inzaghi
when they were players at
Lazio
, both surely dreamed of a similar situation. Coaches of two of the best teams in Europe. Two teams with a similar, intense and aggressive game. "Hungry for football," said the Argentine they had. What better than to satisfy it with a Champions League round of 16 duel as rivals. But
Inter
showed greater hunger
. He searched for the treasure until he found it. They defeated the fear that dominated the entire game. [Narrative and Statistics, 1-0]
From the beginning, that 3-5-2 of the Italians shows a clear offensive vocation that, a priori, the red and white 5-3-2 does not have. However, they are two teams that this season are having a lot of presence in attack, especially in their national competitions. The Italians supported the
Lautaro
-
Thuram
duo and the Spanish supported
Griezmann
and
Morata
.
The Madrid native has recovered from his sprained knee in record time to be in this Champions League duel, but his place at the top, like against
Las Palmas
, was occupied by
Llorente
. More intensity, the key to the duel according to
Simeone
. And the truth is that for the first quarter of an hour he needed paper bags to breathe. Anxiety in both sets, with high pressures that not even a citizen with a variable mortgage in 2008.
Molina
, in fact, almost forced
Simeone
to take a Lexatin by slightly moving his arm in the red and white area after intercepting a rebound from
Witsel
. Inter asked for a hand and, this year and with these regulations, one never knows which side of the coin it will fall on.
In the first half hour, zero shots on goal between both teams. You could tell that it was a 180-minute game, as
Cholo
likes to say
, and both wanted to make it to the second 90 alive. Perhaps
Inter
, with the mobility of their centre-backs breaking the lines, showed a little more hunger than Atlético . The rojiblancos were missing an anchor up top, one that would anchor the interista defense and not force the rojiblancos to travel 70 meters when they recovered the ball.
The worst thing about fear of error is that it always comes. What you want is for it not to fall on your side. It was committed by
De Paul
, who crashed a simple pass into
Thuram
. The Frenchman drove to the edge of the area, gave it up to
Lautaro
, and one touch too many before the Argentine's shot ruined the first goal for Inter.
Simeone
breathed
and
De Paul
breathed .
Injuries
After the break
Giménez
came on for
Savic
and
Thuram
came on for
Arnautovic
and the Austrian was about to make the first of the game in an attack with five touches from
Inter
, each pass better than the last. It was not a coincidence, the Italians increased their intensity to seek an advantage for the return leg. And
Lino
almost found her
behind a large wall with
De Paul
and
Llorente,
two minutes later. Inter left more spaces behind them and, now, Atlético's quick men could do damage.
Inter
responded to
Atlético
's blows
with a first-touch play that
Arnautovic
missed after a beautiful drop shot by
Lautaro
. It was harder to miss it than to screw it up. The Italians continued to press after both teams gained air by replacing the wingers. It was a chess duel, strategy over filigree.
Griezmann gives a pass while Lautaro looks on.GABRIEL BOUYSAFP
And in these duels, whoever has the better queen wins and the red and white had to leave the field with a blow to the foot. So the one from Inter appeared:
Lautaro
. He first forgave a free header after a great pass from
Dumfries
. But then his shot that
Oblak
rejected ended up at the feet of
Arnautovic
who did not forgive. The third time was the charm. The Austrian was rewarded for his persistence. He was able to save
Lino
on the line, but he missed the mark.
Neither did
Morata
in the opposing goal. A draw, or a draw, would have been gold for
Atlético
. But in the last minutes Inter was able to kill the counterattack.
Cholo
asked for calm
, better to return wounded than not dead. And
Inter
, last year's Champions League finalist, are a bad partner to reach the Metropolitano with a two-goal deficit. This is the Champions League, dad.