Inter are back in UCL race

Inter are back in UCL race

In the third round of the Champions League group stage, Inter Milan confidently defeated Borussia Dortmund, coming in second in the group.

Before the third round, the affairs of Antonio Conte’s Big Grass Snake were unsuccessful. The Milanese shared the last place with Slavia Prague and to return to the race for the first two places they needed only a victory. Borussia had previously tied with Barcelona and beat Slavia, so a head-to-head clash between the teams had to answer many questions.

Even before the match, the guests under the management of Lucien Favre had several key players missing. Those were Paco Alcacer, Marco Reus and Marcel Schmelzer. Given the circumstances, Brandt came to the edge, Hazard played beneath him, and Sancho and Weigl on the wings.

Inter had no such problems. Only D'Ambrosio, Sanchez and Sensi were absent. Therefore, the line-up of Conte’s team looked optimal. The formation of three central defenders, over which are five midfielders and attackers in the person of Lukaku and Martinez.

Looking at Inter's game this season under the management of Conte, it was a mistake to believe that the game would be rich in moments. In the first half, the two teams made four shots in the direction of the goal, half of which was on target. At the same time, Lautaro Martinez escaped offside with a pass from de Vrij and opened the score at Giuseppe Meazza.

Borussia tried to equalize, but in the absence of Reus and Alcacer could not be creative in the attack and pass the double echelon of Inter defense. As a result, the Milan team fled in a counterattack, earned a penalty, but Martinez did not draw up a brace. But already at the end of the main time, the counterattack of the Big Grass Snake bore fruit. Candreva fixed the final score on the scoreboard and retrieved Inter the chances of leaving the group.

At a press conference, Antonio Conte only summed up a successful result for himself, obtained in a match with the German Bumblebees,

“We prepared to press Borussia in certain sections of the pitch, and they changed their layout. Opponents switched to a game of five defenders. This means that they were afraid of us.

We are not favorites in this group, but we had to win in order to stay in the race. We did it. It is hard to play against Borussia, it is a very good team. We still have difficulties reaching the playoffs, but now we know that we are alive and well,”- Conte said.

After this match, Inter, as was said, rose to second place. The first place is still held by Barcelona. However, the Catalans looked so uncertain in the match with Slavia that both Inter and Borussia have a chance to reach the playoffs. So far, three points are separating them from Barca, and despite the next match, which will be held between Inter and Borussia at Signal Iduna Park, everything will be decided in matches against Valverde’s team.