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“Inter” and “Borussia” drew (2: 2) on matchday 1 of the Champions League group stage. Excessive caution Antonio Conte returned to play against him in the most prestigious club tournament in Europe. Having issued a boring first half, the teams delivered a thriller in the second half: the “studs” responded to Lukaku’s double with goals from Bensebaini from the penalty spot and a ball from Hofmann.
Thus, after today’s match, Shakhtar only dominates in Quartet B, sensationally defeating Real Madrid on the road (2: 3). An excellent start for the Ukrainian team before the next rounds.
Before the game, “Inter” lost top defenders Milan Shkrinjar and Ashraf Hakimi, who showed their good health early in the campaign. Both players are in self-isolation due to the coronavirus. Instead, Danilo D’ambrosio and Matteo Darmian came out from the first minutes, significantly inferior to Hakimi in connection to attack. Conte also decided to give Lautaro Martínez a break. Ahead, in duet with Lukaku, was Alexis Sánchez.
Despite this, “Inter” continued to be the clear favorite of the match and had to attack the rival with much more insistence from the first minutes. Instead, Antonio Conte began playing his next grandmaster game. It was as if a seasoned chess veteran, Conte, was trying to dry out the game as much as possible and deprive the opponent of counterattack opportunities, relying on a half-time goal from Lukaku or someone else. Therefore, the mentor wanted to minimize risks by playing for two outcomes: a win or a draw.
To the three defenders of “Inter” for the reliability of the ball, Vidal and Barella fell constantly, depriving the team of recipients up front. As a result, the entire play of the “Nerazzurri” in the first half was based on throws to Lukaku and serves on the flanks, and only Eriksen and Sánchez gained relative freedom. The whole game came down to constant midfield battles between Barella and Vidal, which were opposed by Neuhaus and Kramer. For such a scenario, “Borussia” was fully prepared, so the teams went to rest with deserved zeroes on the scoreboard.
The first part clearly demonstrated that Conte’s cautious plan did not work, so in the second part, “Inter” came out to play a much more energetic football, simultaneously launching into battle and Lautaro Martínez, who replaced Sánchez during the break. Almost immediately it paid off. After a prolonged attack, Vidal rewarded Lautaro’s opening with an accurate cutting pass, the Argentine threw the ball towards Lukaku with his head and after a series of rebounds Romelu still managed to hit Jan Sommer’s door.
On an emotional boost, the Milan club attacked for another ten minutes and then returned to their defensive stance. And then Borussia came into play. One of the leaders of the “studs” Markus Thuram caused the energetic Arturo Vidal to commit a foul in his own penalty area. Prior to this, the Chilean just had an exemplary fight, one of his aggressive manners played a cruel joke on him in this episode. The penalty was converted in an exemplary way by Borussia Dortmund’s left-back Rami Bensebaini.
In the remaining half hour, “Inter” tried to storm the doors of “Borussia”, while the Germans did not forget to respond to the rival with strong counterattacks. One of those quick starts, ‘studs’, resulted in Hofmann’s goal in the 84th minute. Borussia put pressure on the Nerazzurri in midfield, and after selection Neuhaus pulled an incredible pass to Hofmann, who rolled the ball between Handanovic’s legs. Lukaku managed to equalize the score in the last minute of regulation time, substituting his foot after a corner kick, but Inter could not and did not deserve to achieve more in this match.
Today’s match was a clear illustration of the fact that last year’s exit from the Champions League group round “Inter” was no accident. Antonio Conte should reconsider his approach to playing in the tournament, otherwise they risk leaving early again. While Borussia the whole game looked solid and managed, following Shakhtar, to show that nothing is clear in this group yet.
Champions League. Group B. First round
Milan, “Giuseppe Meazza” stadium
Inter – Borussia Monchengladbach 2: 2
Goals: Lukaku (49, 90) – Bensebaini (63, pen), Hoffmann (84)
“Bury“: Handanovic – Kolarov, de Vrey, D’Ambrosio – Perisic (Bastoni, 79), Vidal, Barella, Darmian – Eriksen (Brozovic, 79) – Sánchez (Lautaro Martinez, 46), Lukaku
“Borussia M“: Sommer – Bensebaini, Elvedi, Ginter, Liner – Neuhaus, Kramer – Thuram (Wulf, 90 + 5), Embolo (Herrmann, 75), Hofmann – Plea (Stindl, 90)
Warnings: D’ambrosio, De Vrej, Handanovic – Kramer
