Inter 0-0 Shakhtar: Nerazzurri out of Europe

Apart from the fear of someone else’s cake, Inter have had to fear only themselves and will have to take it with them. And again. For the third consecutive year, with fate in his own hands, he throws the European classification. The 0-0 with Shakhtar, blood wound for the rest of the season, does not even mean the Europa League: from now on Antonio Conte will see the others play in the middle of the week. It remains to be seen what the consequences will be for his team, which seemed to have found a dimension, but in the decisive match a tremendous deficit of Nerazzurri personality emerged. Inter hit an ordered Shakhtar, as immunized by that five in the Europa League: as in the first leg, the team manages not to score a goal against the (confused) attacks of the rivals.

FIRST HALF

–

The first minutes are the confirmation of why Conte and Inter have been so eager to get Nicolò Barella back: the middle is too important, too unbalanced. Aside from a swollen ankle, he plays with his usual ardor, perhaps something else. It is a jab behind the attentive Ukrainians, who defend five but never take the inserts of the number 23 on the right. From one of these flashes falls the first sensational chance of the match: at 7 ‘Lautaro makes a hole in the crossbar after a veil from Lukaku in another center of Barelliano. The shot steals the eye and remains the biggest regret of the evening because, as the minutes go by, the game becomes more complex and slippery. Shakhtar, known for their lively and Brazilian-flavored game thanks to talents like Marlos and Taison, seem to have renounced their nature and are content to finish in the Europa League: it is so much the terror of Conte’s strikers that the Ukrainians always they close. the ranks, they wait with a very tight defense and put the game in the restarts (in the first half Handanovic gets his gloves dirty only with a long shot from Dodo). It is not the scoreboard in which Inter de Conte plays best and it shows: on the court the team pours all the heart of the world, all the energy it has, but breaking through is not so easy, despite the good news in I am from Madrid. Hakimi is an example: without having the field in front it becomes much more predictable. However, all the dangers of the first part come from the right and it sure will not be a coincidence.

SECOND HALF

–

Although Real Madrid have not even remotely bit any candy, even in the second half Inter seem scared. You should play with a clear mind and instead feel the anguish as time passes. Thus, by dint of not unlocking it, the demons of past seasons revive. Faced with this Mexican draw, the balls in the set are water in the desert: at 52 ‘Lukaku makes all his kilos and centimeters worth it, going back after a lateral free kick but goalkeeper Trubin does a miracle. As the minutes pass, you feel tired and it is usually Bastoni who lets go to bring the ball faster to the front. From a cross from the left, a colossal opportunity rains at Brozovic’s feet: only from the edge of the air can he adjust the shot but the ball goes wide. Shakhtar, for their part, just wait for the right moment to set up the counterattack and when they do it would also be dangerous (Kovalenko’s opportunity). Indeed, in the middle of the second half, when Inter must necessarily breathe from the desperate final race, the Ukrainians show pieces of their famous dribble. Only in 68 ‘Conte decides to change something and Perisic, who has entered Young’s place, occupies the left with more offensive ambitions. But we need a spark, a pinch of madness, and that can only be given by Alexis Sánchez: he enters fifteen minutes from the end for Gagliardini. Added to this late change are entries from Darmian, D’Ambrosio and even Eriksen. To a header from Sánchez who would have entered, Lukaku (offside) responds: another joke, the photograph of an afternoon and a Cup. In the final chaos, with Handanovic in the center of the area, the Ukrainians lose minute after minute rolling for the ground and Inter’s Europe ends there.