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On Wednesday, December 9, the match of the 6th round of the group stage of the Champions League took place, in which Inter Milan drew with Shakhtar Donetsk (0: 0).
Inter finished last in Group B, without reaching the Europa League. Shakhtar finished third, behind Borussia Mönchengladbach and Real Madrid. The Italian media spoke in detail about the last match.
Inter failed to break through Shakhtar’s wall: the 0: 0 score left the team out of the European Cups “, – says the headline of an authorized publication La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“This has never happened before, and here it is again. For the third year in a row, Inter have failed to reach the Champions League playoffs in the group stage. And a 0-0 draw with Shakhtar means a mistake even in the Europa League. From now on, Antonio Conte will watch football on television in the middle of the week. It remains to be seen what the implications will be for your team. But in the decisive match a colossal shortage of brilliant people at Inter was revealed. The Milanese beat the reunited Shakhtar, as if they had received immunity after those 0: 5 in the Europa League (last season, Shakhtar lost to Inter in the Europa League semi-finals with a score of 0: 5 – ed. ). As in the first game, Inter failed to score.
The first minutes of the meeting explained why Inter were working so hard to rebuild Nikola Barella: this midfielder is too important for the balance of the team. Despite his swollen ankle, he played with his usual fervor. It was with him that Inter’s first dangerous attack began. In the 7th minute, Martínez almost broke the crossbar after a discount to Lukaku, who received the ball from Barella.
This missed opportunity became the most offensive memory of the night, because over time the game became more difficult and slippery. Shakhtar, known for their lively Brazilian soccer thanks to talents like Marlos and Tyson, ditched the usual game and initially targeted the Europa League. In the first half, Handanovich slightly smudged his gloves only after Dodo struck from a long distance. This is not the scoreboard where Inter play best. The team gave all their energy, but it was very difficult to achieve the desired result, despite the good news from Madrid. However, all the danger from Inter in the first half came from the right flank, and this was definitely not an accident.
In the 52nd minute, Lukaku put all his kilograms and centimeters on the line, hitting his head after a free kick, but the Shakhtar Trubin goalkeeper did a real miracle. Fatigue was felt more and more in the Inter game. Shakhtar waited for the right moment to fight back. When he succeeded, turned dangerous, Kovalenko had a chance. Midway through the second half, when Inter had to catch their breath for one last desperate moment, the Ukrainians showed bits of their usual game. Only in the 68th minute did Conte decide to change something, Perisic took Young’s place on the left flank. But he needed a spark, a bit of madness. And only Alexis Sánchez can help with this, leaving a quarter of an hour before the end of the match instead of Gagliardini. Later, Darmian, D’Ambrosio, and even Eriksen appeared on the field.
In the chaos of the last few minutes, when Khandanovich went to the center of someone else’s penalty area to seek his fortune, the Ukrainians were playing for time, rolling on the ground. This is the end of the European competition for Inter this season ”, he writes La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Inter is out of European competition! Conte never beat Shakhtar, – the Mint Corriere dello Sport.
Inter Milan under the leadership of Antonio Conte left the European competition after playing 0-0 at home with Shakhtar Donetsk. The unfortunate 0: 0 at San Siro cost Inter dearly. Bad luck also played a role, when in the 7th minute of the match Martinez’s kick shook the crossbar of Shakhtar’s goal. But Inter’s game lacked the ideas and speed of maneuver, effective antidotes to the Ukrainian fortress built by Luis Castro. Its walls shook but never collapsed. This is due to the insufficiently productive game of “Inter” in attacking. Now Conte has only one goal: gold medals in the Italian championship.
Conte chose to risk Barella in midfield with Gagliardini and Brozovic, rather than use Eriksen, who came out only in the final minutes.
The first half went entirely to the hosts. The problem with Conte’s team was that they didn’t have the speed to break through the Ukrainian defense. Nominally, Shakhtar played with four defenders, but sometimes there were as many as six of them. Martinez’s failure in the 7th minute did not affect the forward too much, who continued his personal duel against the Shakhtar defense.
There was no danger at Handanovich’s door. Shkrinjar and de Vrey came close to opening the scoring, but luck ran away from Conte’s team. The Ukrainians also held out in the 42nd minute, when Martinez fired too weak to seriously upset Trubin. The first half ended without goals, despite the peremptory dominance of the locals.
In the second half, Inter continued to storm the Ukrainian fort. Lukaku took the lead, first with his right foot and then with his head. In the second case, the Ukrainian goalkeeper Trubin showed a brilliant reaction. Another attack by Inter in the 62nd minute did not result in a goal, and Shakhtar responded: Tete stopped Handanovich’s reflexes.
The last 20 minutes of the game were very nervous. Martinez did not take advantage of his two chances, Brozovic was looking for the way to the Ukrainian goal … Shakhtar tried increasingly to counterattack taking advantage of the inevitable fatigue of Inter. Substitute Sánchez came close to scoring twice. In the 89th minute, he definitely hit the arc with his head, but his blow accidentally reflected Lukaku.
Inter bitterly leaves the European competition. Now the Milan club only has to fight for the championship ”, he comments on the match Corriere dello Sport.
Inter – Shakhtar – 0: 0. Lukaku and Lautaro do not score, Conte leaves the European competition “, – writes Tuttosport.
“Inter withdrew from the Champions League. In the last round of the group stage, Antonio Conte’s teams drew with Shakhtar at home (0: 0) and failed to reach the round of 16. Real Madrid did their best to beat Borussia in Spain, but the Nerazzurri couldn’t take advantage of it. After a draw with Shakhtar, Inter remain in the last place in Group B with 6 points, which leaves them behind in the Europa League. The hosts had several chances to score the winning goal, but were unable to convert them.
Conte trusted the attacking duo Lukaku – Martínez. The Nerazzurri were one step away from goal in the 7th minute when Lautaro hit the crossbar with a heavy blow. The Argentine forward had a good moment, and ten minutes later, but the ball flew over the gate. Inter attacked with great determination, de Vrey and Shkriniar did not take advantage of their chances. The guests responded with a smack at Dodo. Vitao was unable to continue the match due to injury, and Khocholava came out in his place. At the end of the first half, Lautaro could have opened the scoring, but his shot got too close to the center of the goal.
At the beginning of the second half, Conte’s team went ahead. Lukaku had two chances: first, he hit weakly in the middle, and then Trubin played phenomenally after hitting the Belgian with his head. Shakhtar tried to fight back dangerously. After Young fumbled in midfield, Tyson connected from 16 yards, a major save on Handanovich’s account.
Inter tried to aggressively pressure the Ukrainians, thus giving them a chance to fight back hard. At the same time, the Milan team looked tired. The last minutes of the match turned into a desperate assault on the performance of the hosts, who missed several points. Eriksen struck from a distance and Sanchez’s head hit Lukaku. “Inter” did not score and flew out of the European cups “, reports Tuttosport.
Italian journalists celebrate the effective defensive play of Shakhtar and the dangerous counterattacks of the Donetsk team. At the same time, they complain about the bad luck of “Inter”, who had several dangerous moments, but did not notice them.
Photos of FC Inter are used in the material.
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