Another night of Champions League action has been and gone and there’s a whole lot to unpack, especially at the San Siro where Inter Milan managed to pull off a surprise 1-0 win over Barcelona in their pursuit of the last 16.
Hakan Calhanoglu got the goal just before half time and today, we’re going to talk about a few things that stood out from this titanic encounter.
Smash and grab
In addition to registering just five shots and three corners across the 90 minutes, Inter also only had 28% possession – which they would’ve expected against Barca. Still, for better or worse, they managed to hold out and used a lively atmosphere in Milan to their advantage in the best way possible. It was a smash and grab on the big stage and given how it went down, who can blame them for being ecstatic?
Barca’s fury
Pedri thought he’d managed to equalise in the second half when he put the ball in the back of the net, only for it to be pulled back due to a handball claim against Ansu Fati – despite the incident stemming from Onana pushing it directly onto his hand. You could argue it made up for Barca not conceding a penalty in the first half when they probably should’ve but either way, Xavi was absolutely furious.
A big second half
When talking about the ‘second half’ we’re referring to the second half of Group C this season which we expect to be pretty chaotic. Bayern Munich are top of the table with nine points and Viktoria Plzen are rooted to the bottom with nothing to show for it, leaving Barca and Inter to scrap it out for second place. Xavi noted they’ve got ‘three finals ahead’, and Simone Inzaghi will undoubtedly feel the same way considering the pressure that’s been on his shoulders.
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