Barcelona, beware: Inter await in the Champions League semi-finals, and they will be daunting opponents.
Serie A’s champions and current leaders saw off the considerable challenge posed by Bayern Munich in San Siro, rousing themselves after falling behind on the night to level the tie on aggregate to score twice in three second-half minutes, then resisting the Germans’ late attempts to force extra time.
This always felt like a meeting of European heavyweights but Simone Inzaghi’s side, disciplined at the back and a real threat going forward, are imposing themselves on this competition on the quiet.
This second leg was played in a gale and, at times, driving rain, but sparked into life after the interval. Harry Kane, offered marginally too much space by Federico Dimarco inside the penalty area, fizzed a low shot past the wing-back and into the far corner of Yann Sommer’s net to draw the visitors level at 2-2 on aggregate. It was the England captain’s first real involvement of the night.
Inter’s response was almost immediate, Lautaro Martinez smashing home his 150th goal for the club from close range after his initial header rebounded off Joshua Kimmich. Matteo Darmian might have added a second but for Eric Dier’s goal-line clearance, however, from the resultant corner, former Bayern player Benjamin Pavard found space away from Kim Min-jae to head in a second.
Back came Bayern with Dier’s clever header, guided over Sommer for his first Bayern goal 14 minutes from the end, to leave the locals quivering. Nerves were jangling as the hosts battled to clear their lines late on, but Kane sliced over the bar, Sommer saved from Thomas Muller and Inter clung on.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, Anantaajith Raghuraman and Michael Cox dissect the main talking points from San Siro.
How did the weather affect this occasion?
At half-time of this contest, I was approached by UK broadcaster TNT Sport’s pundit James Horncastle, who had a succinct two-word analysis of the first half. “It’s windy!” (He will be back on The Athletic next month, Horncastle fans!).
He was spot-on. And that reminded me — one of the more enlightening data-based articles on The Athletic recently concerned the niche topic of how the weather affects football matches.
Not only did Conor O’Neill prove that the Premier League side who were most advantaged by wet and windy nights were indeed Stoke City, he also demonstrated the extent to which certain conditions have affected matches. In strong winds, pass completion rates were down seven per cent, presumably both because short balls rolled badly and longer ones floated away from their intended target.
And while this was a perfectly watchable contest, the wind compromised the quality of play.
When Dimarco got to the byline and played a cut-back, it was aimed for the D, but the wind took it back into midfield. When Muller attempted to nod the ball towards goal, it bounced off the wrong side of his head and back towards the halfway line. When Sommer tried to push away a corner, he got nowhere near it.
As O’Neill’s article shows, cold weather is fine, rain can actually make football quicker and more exciting, but wind can be a real pain.
Michael Cox
Is there a team better organised than Inter?
You will be hard pressed to find one.
Inter’s fluidity is different from most teams.
At one point in the first half, Hakan Calhanoglu was in central defence alongside Francesco Acerbi with Alessandro Bastoni and Pavard as the full-backs. At another, Bastoni moved forward on the left wing while Nicolo Barella slotted in at right centre-back as Acerbi and Pavard shifted over a spot. Henrikh Mkhitaryan played as the central centre-back on one occasion, too.
Interchanges of that nature can cause chaos and confusion but, in Inter’s case, it seems to have bred familiarity.
When Bayern attacked in numbers in search of the goal that would draw them level on aggregate, Inter countered by defending in heaps, blocking five shots in the first half — one fewer than they had in the whole 90 minutes of the first leg. The standout sequence was in the 36th minute as Muller and Leroy Sane saw shots blocked.
Among the eight Champions League quarter-finalists, no team had blocked more shots in this season’s competition than Inter’s 52 before kick-off tonight.
Their defending for both goals on the night was distinctly non-Inter, though. For the first goal, Konrad Laimer was allowed too much space to run forward, while Acerbi’s initial clearance from Sane’s cross was poor. Dimarco failed to close down Kane and dared him to take the shot, which went through his legs.
Dier’s goal came from the second phase of a set piece. Bastoni opted not to jump, expecting Serge Gnabry’s cross to the left to float out for a goal kick, only for Dier to meet it with a header across goal and into the opposite corner almost in slow motion.
But those goals were followed by more excellent defensive work, particularly from Pavard and Sommer — his save at the death denied Muller, who leaves boyhood club Bayern at the end of the season after 25 years, his fairytale — and it felt fitting he scored the decisive goal.
Now it is the turn of Barcelona, the Champions League’s leading scorers this season, to find a way through this most obstinate of rearguards.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
How did Bayern set up without Musiala this week?
Replacing Raphael Guerreiro with Muller was Bayern coach Vincent Kompany’s only change from the first leg as he sought a better solution to Jamal Musiala’s absence through injury. Guerreiro did not have a bad game in Munich last week, but he was better without the ball and did little to compensate for Musiala’s missing craft.
Yet Muller did a fine job tonight. He created Bayern’s first proper chance of the game with a well-disguised through ball which Michael Olise was just unable to control. His movement around and inside the penalty box carried more menace, too, and Inter had difficulty with both that movement and also Muller’s appreciation for the attacking positions his team-mates were occupying.
This was Muller’s 163rd Champions League appearance, the same total as Lionel Messi. That it had the potential to be his last might have made his starting role seem like a sentimental decision, but it was actually grounded in tactical logic and — ultimately — was the correct choice. Without Musiala, Bayern are desperately short of ingenuity and Muller provided some of that in difficult conditions and against an uncompromising defence.
It prompts a different discussion, though, because at 35 years old and with his contract about to expire, it’s concerning that he does still offer the Bundesliga giants something which doesn’t exist elsewhere in the squad.
As it was, Muller exited this competition with Sommer, a former Bayern team-mate, denying his late header. That was a cruel way to go.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
The Champions League semi-finals
- Tuesday, April 29: Arsenal v PSG
- Wednesday, April 30: Barcelona v Inter
- Tuesday, May 6: Inter v Barcelona
- Wednesday, May 7: PSG v Arsenal
Should Bayern expect more from Kane?
The question is probably wrong here.
It does not matter whether Bayern are right to expect more of Kane. He is the most expensive player in their history, and so they do. In these games, it does not matter whether there is an injury crisis or a gale howling through San Siro, Kane needs not only to score, but also to be the defining factor.
He did score. Brilliantly. But he did not play well. He was probably the least impressive of all of Bayern’s forwards, playing with that clunky, leggy aesthetic he tends to adopt when not fully fit.
Had Bayern advanced as a result of his opening goal, that would have been enough. As it was, once Lautaro equalised — and certainly after Pavard put Inter ahead on the night — the conversation shifted back to that glaring chance Kane sidefooted against the post in the first leg, and the subdued nature of his overall performance this evening.
But this is what he signed up for. It does not matter whether it’s fair or not.
Life as Bayern’s No 9 can seem like a soft option from the outside and no doubt it offers the opportunity to score goals by the dozen, but the trade-off is this: it’s not enough for Kane to score goals. He has to decide the biggest games of the season.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
Is there any stopping Lautaro?
As in the first leg, Bayern simply could not cope with Martinez.
His equalising goal aside, he proved Inter’s best outlet thanks to his hold-up play, hauling in passes from Sommer and the centre-backs with ease. That came into play in just the second minute, when he cleverly played in Marcus Thuram to set Inter away after a period of Bayern possession.
It happened again in the 18th minute when he turned away from Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka near the halfway line with a couple of great touches to thrust Inter onto the front foot.
Following Kane’s goal, it was Martinez who restored Inter’s aggregate lead from a corner with his eighth Champions League goal of the season and 150th overall for Inter in 325 appearances. He misjudged the initial delivery, kneeing the ball against Kimmich, but reacted instinctively to poke the ball home, handing Inter their aggregate lead back.
There was more excellent hold-up play to enjoy, and a couple of excellent passes under pressure to Thuram and Barella, before he was taken off in the 81st minute to a standing ovation.
The Argentinian is this team’s attacking inspiration. A leader of real quality.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
What did Vincent Kompany say?
“We have to look back at the big topic before the games against Inter. It was all about all the players we were missing with injuries. I think we did well anyway. We had some regrets in the first game and even more in the second.
“A lot felt right today. We had an incredible support from the fans. There were two moments in which we should have done better but we have to also recognise Inter’s quality. Still, I believe that we created enough to score more goals than Inter.
“If I just have to comment on the result, it would take five seconds. The hard reality is that we are not playing the Champions League final at home (the final is being played at Bayern’s Allianz Arena) and we cannot change that. But as regards the performance, we know that we did enough to win these two games. We will return in the Champions League in five months, but there is a lot to look forward to until then.
“We played against a great team. They are really well coached. But I think the only regret is the result because the team played as I wanted to. We should have just scored more.”
What did Simone Inzaghi say?
“It was a beautiful evening in front of our fans against a very strong team. We had to play two great games, giving everything we had. The lads were splendid — it’s a victory to share with the entire Inter world. Let’s move forward in this long season that is giving us so many emotions. Bayern never lowered the intensity, but we responded blow for blow.
“This evening will remain with us for long time. It repays us of all the hard work we are doing. We faced a great team but I’m lucky to have great men playing for me. These lads work and sacrifice, congratulations to them for what they put on the pitch.”
What next for Inter?
Sunday, April 20: Bologna (Home), Serie A, 5pm UK, noon ET
What next for Bayern?
Saturday, April 19: Heidenheim (Away), Bundesliga, 2.30pm UK, 9.30am ET
(Top photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images)
