Inter and Barcelona finished all square at 3-3 in one of the most exciting matches of the season so far.
A trip to Camp Nou is never easy, and Inter were only minutes away from victory. A terrific performance overall and one to take confidence from.
The most pleasing part was being down 1-0 at half time and as we know, this can either go two ways. Either the team is distraught after conceding, then concedes more after half time. Or, the other way is what we saw from Inter.
The team comes out and is able to score 3 goals in our best half of attacking football this season.
Let’s look further into the match itself.
Man of the Match!
Personally I think there would’ve been 3 or 4 deserved recipients. However, we tend to agree with who UEFA picked after the match. NICOLO BARELLA!
If Bastoni terrorized Gavi last week, then it was Barella’s turn this week. I’m sure everyone will see the images to come out of the match where it looks like Gavi is trying to hold onto Barella’s shoulder, and Nico just simply shrugs him off.
In the match, Barella was everywhere today. Over the past few months to a year, we’ve seen sides of immaturity from Barella and I think this has caused his football to suffer. He hasn’t hit the heights we expected as he is now 25 years old.
In saying that, Barella is starting to improve again. The mental aspect has improved as he is no longer throwing his hands up in the air and it seems as the matches are progressing he starting to grow. Both as a person and a footballer which is pleasing to see.
That Bastoni long ball to Barella was absolute perfection, and the touch and finish from Barella was world class. Not talking down our attackers but I don’t think either Lautaro or Dzeko could’ve done it any better (if at all).
For the remainder, Barella was everywhere and was unlucky not to provide a bit more to the scoreline. He’s a workhorse and something we’ve been lacking with Brozovic out. I think in this period, Nico has really stepped up and this is helping Inter get the results we need.
But it wasn’t a win?
We have to look at the group and the situation we are in. Yes, it wasn’t a win but this result is so critical to our progress.
If we look on the other hand, a loss here would’ve been catastrophic. We would’ve been even with Barcelona and then potentially relying on them to drop points and a result go our way.
The way it stands, if we match Barcelona’s result on the next matchday we are through to the knockout stages. So if Barcelona win against Bayern and we win against Plzen we are through. Same situation if they draw and we draw or they lose and we lose.
The key is to get out of this group and not many gave us a chance when we were added to a group consisting of Bayern and Barcelona. Especially after Barca spent something like a couple of hundred euros last transfer window.
So this is a major positive and one which Inzaghi can be proud of. This takes us to our next point.
Credit where it’s due –
The #InzaghiOut fans have been kept quiet for the past couple of weeks. After the loss to Roma, Inter have won at home against Barcelona, won away to Sassuolo and now drew at Camp Nou against Barcelona.
The most pleasing aspect is this team has turned it around. I said a couple of weeks again, all it takes is a couple of small changes and this team will get back to winning ways.
The first was Onana, and hasn’t he been brilliant! An absolute star between the sticks and so far it’s proven as a smart purchase. Especially with the aging Handanovic struggling to shot any shots on target.
Inzaghi must be given a round of applause as this Inter team has shown heart and character over the past couple of weeks. Credit to the team to fight for their manager with all the press saying “Inzaghi will be sacked” etc.
Days like today make me so proud to be an Interista! Let’s hope we can show the same determination against Plzen and make our way through to the next stage.
Where to next?
A home fixture against Salernitana at San Siro where we want to keep momentum going. I think we can get it done comfortably, especially hearing that Lukaku will be available on the bench ready to go.
Prediction: Inter 2-0
As always, Forza Inter!
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