A 4-0 thumping of Viktoria Plzen has ensured that Inter reach the final 16 of the Champions League, knocking out Barcelona in the process.
From the opening whistle the Nerazzurri dominated and created several good moments to score. It felt like the ball just wouldn’t go into the back of the goal for a majority of the first half.
Wasted shots and missed opportunities, until something changed and Inter started taking their chances. It started in the 35th minute and Inter were on their way. Qualification to the next round now certain with a stunning 4-0 win.
Let’s look further into the match itself.
Man of the match!
Officially, Dzeko received the best on field and it’s hard to argue against. Two goals and several great touches from the Bosnian as he was one of the main reasons the scoreline finished as it did.
A special mention needs to go to Dimarco as he had moments of brilliance today. In Dzeko first goal, the control of Barella’s long ball and then to dink across the face of goal straight to Dzeko’s feet was sublime.
Back to the main man Dzeko, he has been an absolute rock this season. Filling in for the shoes of Lukaku and absolutely killing it every match. It’s hard to believe this guy is 36, as he has the ability at any time to flick a switch and score goals.
In the second half, the match was wrapped up with Dzeko’s second goal. Great control from Lautaro in the box as he slipped the ball perfectly to the feet of Dzeko and boom the score was 3-0 to Inter.
The ability for Inter to keep Dzeko healthy will put us in a good place post world cup. As we know, Bosnia did not qualify for the world cup so he will remain training with Inter. There will be a lot of players with tired legs and the fresher we can keep some players, the better we’ll be for it.
He’s back –
A short cameo from our main man up front, with a goal to add to his name. It was fantastic to see Lukaku back on the pitch fit and looking good.
The goal was sensational and it was a true Lukaku type of goal. With his back to goal, he held off his man and fed Correa with a short pass. Then made a run behind the defence where he instructed Correa to play him through.
Finally, one of one we’ve seen this situation plenty of times. A powerful left footed strike into the bottom corner with the keeper standing no chance. Only 4 minutes after subbing on for Lautaro, Lukaku was back!
San Siro erupted into joy and started celebrating for a few reasons. The joy of making the round of 16, and the other reason being that with Lukaku fit we are far more dangerous. If Lu-La (Lukaku and Lautaro) can reignite on the field then our competition better watch out!
Solid at the back –
Inter’s change of fortune has come from solidifying the defence. The introduction of Onana into the team has improved things dramatically. We are no longer conceding silly goals and the teams mentality is on the up.
Since Onana has started in matches, Inter has only lost one match. This was against Bayern Munich so that’s completely understandable.
The season has completely turned around, and the club seems like a much happier place. Skriniar and Bastoni are back to their best, and Acerbi and De Vrij have both impressed in recent matches. Hopefully with this new found happiness, we will see our new capitano Skriniar put pen to paper and sign a new contract.
I don’t want to point the finger solely at Handanovic here, but the results speak for themselves. When a team looks at their keeper and has zero confidence, it puts in their mind the thought of “why try?”. They put in all this effort just for our keeper to be the reason why the team is conceding.
Over the years I was always behind Handanovic, but enough was enough. We thank him for everything he did for this team and he will go down as one of the best keepers in Inter’s history. It’s now Onana’s time to shine.
Where to next?
We back up in 3 days from now to play Sampdoria at home. The return of Stankovic to San Siro, as he is now Sampdoria’s new coach. This is a fixture which will keep that momentum going as it’s one I believe we can win comfortably.
Prediction: Inter 3-1
As always, Forza Inter!
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