In a closely contested match, Inter emerged victorious in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, defeating Atletico Madrid 1-0 at San Siro. The sole goal came from Marko Arnautovic in the second half. It was a challenging match for Inzaghi’s team, but their perseverance paid off, putting them in a favorable position for the return leg in Madrid scheduled for March 13th.
Match Report
Inter, who are topping their domestic league and have had a successful 2024 season so far, faced Simeone’s Atletico, who have had mixed fortunes recently.
Inzaghi fielded his usual starting eleven, with the exception of Acerbi who is injured. His position in central defence was filled by De Vrij. Darmian was preferred over Dumfries in the right flank. The attacking pair of Lautaro Martinez and Thuram remained unchanged. Simeone, on the other hand, had to manage without Azpilicueta and Lemar. Gimenez got the nod over Savic in defence, with Molina and Lino on the flanks, and Llorente was paired with Griezmann up front.
Inter started strongly, the first notable chance coming in the 3rd minute when Thuram’s header from a Bastoni cross missed the target. Despite protests for a handball from Molina in the 13th minute, the game continued. The Nerazzurri maintained their possession-based style but struggled to create clear-cut chances. In the 18th minute, Witsel produced a crucial intervention to prevent a De Vrij pass from reaching Thuram in a goal-scoring position. In the 32nd minute, a promising attack involving Pavard and Thuram ended with Lautaro’s shot from the edge of the box going over the bar.
Lautaro continued to pose a threat, his header from a Barella cross narrowly missing in the 37th minute. The best chance of the first half came in the 38th minute when Thuram intercepted a misplaced pass from De Paul to set up Lautaro, but his shot was blocked by Gimenez. The first half ended goalless with Inter marginally on top.
Inzaghi introduced Arnautovic at the start of the second half, replacing an underperforming Thuram. The substitution almost paid immediate dividends, with Arnautovic narrowly missing the target in the 49th minute after being set up by Lautaro. Atletico also made changes, with Morata coming on to add more firepower to their attack. They almost broke the deadlock in the 56th minute when a well-worked move involving Lino and De Paul ended with Lino shooting just wide from inside the box. Despite a few more chances, the score remained 0-0 until the 63rd minute when Arnautovic squandered another opportunity from close range.
Inter continued to push for the opener, while Atletico seemed to be struggling to contain their attacks. In the 77th minute, Lautaro’s header from a Calhanoglu cross was well saved by Oblak. The breakthrough finally came in the 79th minute when, following a mistake by Reinildo, Lautaro’s shot was saved by Oblak but fell kindly to Arnautovic who calmly slotted it into the back of the net to make it 1-0. Atletico had a couple of late chances to equalize but failed to capitalize, with Morata heading wide from a good position in the 88th minute. Inter managed to see out the remaining time without any major scares and secured a crucial 1-0 win.
