Inter have qualified for the Quarter Finals of the Champions League after knocking out Porto with a 0-0 draw.
We saw 90 minutes of brilliance from Inter on the defensive end, as Porto struggled to score. A few chances late in the match from Porto almost went in, but the football gods kept the ball out.
Luckily for Inter, a scoreless draw was the perfect result to knockout Porto and progress in the competition. A performance from Inter which was entirely full of heart and a showing that all Interisti will be proud of.
Let’s look further into the match itself.
Man of the Match!
The official award was presented to Hakan Calhanoglu, and wow he was impressive. So many chances were snuffed out from Hakan, as Porto looked to hit Inter with numbers in attack.
Interceptions were crucial and Hakan was pivotal as the last man in Inter’s midfield. We quickly turned defence into attack and on a few occasions we were able to apply pressure to our opponents.
For the second match in a row, Hakan has commanded the midfield and he’s really making that deep lying playmaker position his own.
I for one did not think we could replace Brozovic with his injury at the start of the season, however Hakan has excelled and outperformed his counterpart in every way possible.
No matter our opponent in the quarter finals, I’m sure Hakan will be one of our best!
Special mention –
Lately, he’s received an absolute belting in the media and from supporters, but Simone Inzaghi needs to be applauded.
In back to back fixtures against a dangerous Porto side, Inter kept a clean sheet in both matches.
The pressure that’s been applied to Inzaghi in recent times has been immense, so for him to prepare this Inter side in the way they performed is impressive. Especially with this defensive masterclass which gave us vibes of 2009/10 Barca away.
No matter how Inter performs for the rest of the season, Inzaghi has exceeded expectations in the Champions League. We hoped for Round of 16, but to qualify for the Quarter Finals is an unbelievable effort.
The best thing is, this may not where our Champions League run ends. With a favourable fixture against Milan or Chelsea, there is a good chance we could progress. However, if we come up against Bayern, Man City or Real Madrid our chances drastically decrease to go further.
Where to next?
Our next fixture is the biggest in Serie A so far this season as we face Juventus at home. We really need to entrench ourselves in the top 4, and a win against Juventus will help solidify that.
As we saw earlier in the season in the reverse fixture, we will need to turn our dominance into goals otherwise we’ll let Juventus into the match to beat us again.
Our players will be tired, but let’s not forget that Juventus need to play in the Europa League too. Plus we get a couple more days rest compared to our rivals.
Prediction: Inter 2-1
As always, Forza Inter!
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