Kolkata: Inter Milan desperately defending against Bayern Munich late in the game was not what Simone Inzaghi wanted as was evident from the head coach wheeling arms, clapping and exhorting his team to show more energy. But it, and the 4-3 quarter-final win on aggregate after the 2-2 draw in Milan, felt very Italian. It also brought back memories of what Inzaghi had said after the 1-0 win against Arsenal earlier in the Champions League. “The result is all that matters.” That felt very Italian as well.
It is important to circle back to that match in November to understand why Inter are among Europe’s elite quartet and, along with Paris St-Germain and Barcelona, eyeing a treble. It will be their first since Jose Mourinho’s side achieved it in 2010 and like then, Inter play Barcelona in the semi-final. It was also the last time a team from Italy won the Champions League.
Okay, back to the Arsenal game. On match day four, Inzaghi left out five starters, produced a defensive show and won with their only shot on target, Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty. That night Inter had 37% possession. Which was exactly their possession percentage on Wednesday. Yet, Bayern and Inter had the same number of shots on target: 6. Inter also Matteo Darmian’s shot blocked by Eric Dier after Bayern goalie Jonas Urbig was beaten.
What this told us, apart from Bayern’s inability to take their chances, was that Inter can batten down hatches. They have conceded only five goals in 12 matches on way to the semi-final and had, before Wednesday, blocked 52, the most among the quarter-finalists.
Bayern had eight shots after Benjamin Pavard’s 61st minute goal had put Inter ahead. Dier’s looping header in the 76th minute made it 2-2 on the night but Bayern had half-chances to show for all their domination. “We don’t give up… We were definitely on the back foot at times today but we showed again today that we can do great things,” Inter skipper Lautaro Martinez told Amazon Prime.
It also meant that Thomas Mueller’s Champions League campaign for Bayern will stop at 163 matches. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (183) and Iker Casillas (177) have more.
But there were spells on the rainy, windy night that showed the quality of Inter’s attacking play. From the centre after Kane’s 52nd minute goal had levelled the aggregate score at 2-2, Inter played nine passes stroking the ball from left to right and then to the centre when Martinez found Marcus Thuram who tested Urbig. It denied the Martinez-Thuram partnership its 37th goal of the season.
In the 47th minute, Thuram let Dier get close to him before beating him in a foot race and Bayern needed a challenge from Konrad Laimer to avert danger. Urbig was also called into action in the ninth minute when Thuram launched a counter-attack and Federico Dimarco tried a shot.
Two minutes after Mueller shanked a shot from close, Inter equalised. Like Pavard’s powerful header, Martinez’s goal also came from a corner-kick. This was his 150th goal in 325 appearances for Inter. Reason enough to stand Declan Rice-like on the LED boards. Then, Darmian forced a save from Urbig. Inter were showing what they can do.
His players are encouraged push up so it did not surprise that in the 12th minute central defender Francesco Acerbi was the farthest from his goal or that wing-back Dimarco had slotted in as centre-forward in the 40th. And yet, because players slot into positions vacated – like ball playing midfielders Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan becoming central defenders – Inter are not often stretched when out of possession.
Of the semi-finalists, Inter’s players’ salary is the least. And yet, In four seasons, Inzaghi has got them to a Champions League final, a round of 16 and this. After 2022-23, Inzaghi lost a number of key players and still won the Serie A. Inter’s win at Bayern was the first time the German giants lost at home since 2021 so clearly this is not a side that gets overawed. With five Italians in the starting line-up on Wednesday and an Italian coach, Inter are carrying the flag for Italy in Europe. “We are not putting limits on ourselves,” said Pavard.
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