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Marko Arnautović has a chat with TNT Sport. “I had two chances … I was thinking it’s going again wrong for me … but luckily the third one went in … I am so happy … I am also so happy for the team and the fans who came to the stadium … we absolutely deserved this win … waiting for us is another strong game in Madrid, we know how good they are … but I think we can do it again … my team-mates know it was not an easy period for me … when I was injured it was a setback … that’s why they celebrated with me … I am very thankful for my team-mates and also the coaching staff … they are always behind me and I am very happy to be here … Atletico is a top team and we know what is going to be there … but we will try to win.”
It was far from a classic. Both teams will feel that strange queasy mixture of contentment and frustration that can only come after the first leg of a close European rubber: 1-0 is an acceptable result for both … but it also could have been better for both. Internazionale had their chances to score more and establish some clear blue water between the teams, while Atletico were one clumsy midfield clank away from getting out of Dodge with a draw. It’s finely poised for the Metropolitano.
FULL TIME: Internazionale 1-0 Atletico Madrid
It’s nine wins in a row for Inter, who take a narrow advantage to the Metropolitano in three weeks’ time!
90 min +4: Augusto is booked for a cynical tug on the shirt of Correa.
90 min +3: There wasn’t an awful lot in that, mind, and Koke goes into the book for arguing the point with the ref. Nothing comes of the subsequent free kick, which is probably just as well.
90 min +2: The corner’s a non-event. But then Barrios slides in on Frattesi and it’s a free kick out on the right.
90 min +1: Sommer punts long. Sanchez chests down and sprays wide right to Dumfries, who charges into the box and wins a corner. Inter are in no hurry to take it.
90 min: Sommer gives away possession carelessly. He should be made to pay, but when Morata is teed up on the penalty spot, the striker slips and Inter clear their lines. There will be five added minutes.
89 min: Alexis Sánchez comes on for Lautaro Martínez.
88 min: A huge chance for Atletico to equalise! Correa flips a cross in from the left. It falls towards Morata, six yards out. He wafts a weak header wide right. Had that been on target, Sommer would have had very little hope of saving it.
86 min: Koke’s loose pass gifts Barella and Martinez the opportunity to counter. They’re two on one, but somehow manage to over-complicate things so much that they don’t manufacture the chance of a shot. Atletico attempt to counter the counter, and Frattesi takes a booking for the team to stop it.
84 min: Morata is booked for a petulant hack at Pavard. Atletico are in danger of wasting an evening’s staunch work.
83 min: Inter are after a second, though. Barella has the ball at his feet on the edge of the Atletico area, but can’t work enough room to take a shot.
82 min: Savic is booked for a clank into the back of Martinez, then argues the toss with the referee. Now Simeone performs the internationally recognised mime for calm down. A one-goal defeat is no disaster for the Spaniards.
80 min: On the touchline, Diego Simeone looks thoroughly sick. His team were closing in on a precious draw.
Updated
GOAL! Internazionale 1-0 Atletico Madrid (Arnautović 79)
Arnautović has missed two big chances; it’s third time lucky! Witsel clanks into Reinildo on the halfway line. The mistake is costly. Martinez zips forward. He’s clear! He aims for the bottom left, only for Oblak to parry brilliantly. But the ball breaks left to Arnautović, who has an open goal. He can’t miss … and hits the target. Lino comes across in a desperate hope to hook off the line, but can only further bundle the ball into the net. San Siro erupts!
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78 min: Antoine Griezmann can’t continue. He’s picked up a knock and retires to the bench, with a pained look on his face. Ángel Correa comes on in his place.
77 min: From a deep position on the right flank, Çalhanoğlu whips in a cross. Martinez flashes a header towards the left-hand side of the net. A bit too close to Oblak, though, and the keeper handles the hot potato brilliantly. Either side of the keeper, though, and that was surely in.
76 min: Arnautović drives down the left. His low, hard cross is only half cleared, allowing Çalhanoğlu to take a shot from the edge of the D. His daisycutter is blocked.
74 min: Dumfries makes good down the right and whistles a low cross towards the near post. Arnautović can’t force home from close range, and Savic is on hand to intercept and clear.
73 min: Another Inter substitution, as Henrikh Mkhitaryan is replaced by Davide Frattesi.
72 min: Reinildo romps down the left with options in the middle, but hoicks over everyone’s head.
70 min: Inter respond with a double change of their own. Federico Dimarco and Matteo Darmian make way for Denzel Dumfries and Carlos Augusto.
69 min: Atletico make a double change, replacing Nahuel Molina and Mario Hermoso with Reinildo and Pablo Barrios.
68 min: A long ball into the Inter box. Morata goes down but there’s no contact from behind by that all-action hero Arnautović.
66 min: Barella crosses from the right. Arnautović, at the heart of all the drama, can’t connect with a header from ten yards. More Inter frustration.
65 min: Witsel goes down and requires some treatment. The clock ticks on. San Siro mutters in frustration. Witsel gets back up and will be fine to continue.
63 min: Suddenly the hosts shift through the gears. Arnautović exchanges quick passes with Martinez to open Atletico up along the inside-right channel. He’s one on one with Oblak … and leans back to blaze over. A huge chance spurned … though if nothing else, Inter’s patient approach in the lead-up was justified.
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62 min: Inter, whose early second-half momentum has been lost, stroke it around slowly. Nothing doing.
60 min: Lino drives at Darmian down the left. He rolls across towards Griezmann, who cushions a pass into the road of Koke. A wild drive from 25 yards misses the target by 25 yards. Again, though, it’s evidence that Atletico have suddenly turned up to the party.
59 min: … Sommer claims with ease. Atletico suddenly look dangerous after the introduction of Morata.
58 min: Griezmann latches onto a loose De Vrij ball. He slips a pass down the middle for Llorente, who nearly bursts clear on goal. A combination of Sommer and De Vrij denies Llorente a shooting opportunity, the ball squirting out for a corner. From which …
56 min: Morata’s first touch is a lovely spray out towards Lino on the left touchline. Lino cuts infield and one-twos with De Paul, before opening his body and slapping a weak sidefoot wide left. He should have worked Sommer at the very least. That was a glorious sweeping move, but Atletico still haven’t had an effort on target.
54 min: Saúl Ñíguez makes way for Álvaro Morata.
53 min: Hermoso goes into the book for standing on Barella’s foot.
52 min: Barella swings a cross in from the right. Arnautović flicks a powerful header over the bar from 12 yards. This is so much better from Inter, a statement made in the full knowledge that they’re clearing a low bar.
51 min: Inter have picked it up since the restart. They’re clearly carrying more threat.
49 min: Mkhitaryan feeds Dimarco down the left. Dimarco swings deep for Arnautović, arriving fast from the other flank. Arnautović telescopes a leg and steers a fierce shot high and wide right. Had that been on target, it would have been a picture-book goal. That’s got San Siro singing again, if nothing else.
Updated
47 min: Hermoso’s poor clearance is intercepted, allowing Martinez to force a corner down the right. Dimarco swings it in viciously towards the near post. Oblak flaps at it, but the nearby Mkhitaryan is adjudged to have fouled him. File under Cosseted Keepers.
46 min: San Siro is fairly quiet. “While this match hasn’t been an instant classic,” begins Kári Tulinius, “it’s absolutely what one would expect of a game between Helenio Herrera’s old club, and a club managed by the spiritual heir of Helenio Herrera.”
Inter get the second half underway. Marcus Thuram, who appeared to pull his groin in taking that shot on 43 minutes, has been replaced by Marko Arnautović. Meanwhile José María Giménez has also developed a muscular problem, and makes way for Stefan Savić.
Andreas Brehme (1960-2024). In loving memory of an Inter hero.
HALF TIME: Internazionale 0-0 Atletico Madrid
That was painful to watch. Diego Simeone won’t mind one jot. His side have done a fine job of shackling Inter … and what’s worse for the home side, Marcus Thuram shakes his head sadly as Henrikh Mkhitaryan comes across to enquire about his well-being. Don’t expect to see the striker come out for the second half.
45 min: Thuram goes down holding his groin. This doesn’t look good for him. He gets back up and play restarts, but can only limp around gingerly. It’ll be a surprise if he comes out again for the second half. Just one minute of additional time to play.
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43 min: Martinez goes racing down the left. He feeds Thuram in the middle. The ball’s not quite in front of him, so instead of shooting he’s forced to slip Barella into the box from the right. Barella is crowded out before he can take a whack, so lays off back to Thuram. A low drive flies straight at Oblak, who gathers. Inter should have done better. They were three on two, but the passing wasn’t crisp or accurate enough.
41 min: Çalhanoğlu goes over in the vicinity of Koke. He wants a free kick but the referee awards one to Atletico instead, the ball having hit his arm as he burst past his opponent and fell over. Çalhanoğlu is livid, performatively at least.
39 min: … Atletico attempt to counter through Griezmann, but it all falls to bits. This match has yet to attain Instant Classic status.
38 min: De Paul is caught daydreaming on the halfway line, and slaps the ball straight at Thuram, who bombs off down the inside-left channel. Thuram slips inside to Martinez, on the edge of the D. He tries to slip a forensic shot towards the bottom left, but it’s weak, blocked by Gimenez and deflected out for a corner. From which …
36 min: … so having said that, here comes number one! Barella crosses from the right. Martinez slaps a header straight at Oblak, who smothers with ease.
35 min: No attempts on target yet.
Updated
34 min: Inter attempt to pin Atletico back, but Griezmann latches onto a loose ball and draws a cheap foul from Pavard, who clanks him from behind. Pressure, such as it was, off.
32 min: Another long Inter pass. Thuram heads down on the edge of the box for Martinez, who larrups a first-time riser high and wide. There was plenty of frustration and feeling in that one. Martinez and Thuram have otherwise been fairly well shackled so far.
30 min: As Inter prepare to deliver a long throw into the Atletico box, Çalhanoğlu and Koke give each other the what-for. Then De Paul gets involved. Finally the referee tells everyone what’s what. The visitors deal with the throw, and San Siro groans as one. Atletico doing a number on the crowd.
29 min: Martinez has the chance to send Dimarco clear down the left, but hesitates and by the time he plays the ball, De Paul intercepts … and Dimarco would have been offside anyway.
27 min: Some Atleti possession. A lot of frustrated San Siro whistling. Music to Diego Simeone’s ears, of that there’s no doubt.
Updated
25 min: Griezmann moves up a gear and powers down the inside-right channel. He looks for Llorente on the edge of the area but Bastoni steps in to intercept. That one Lino run apart, Atletico haven’t made it as far as the Inter box.
24 min: Çalhanoğlu and Mkhitaryan paint some pretty triangles down the inside-left flank. The final pass is lacking, and Atletico intercept on the edge of their box, but that was some sweet, intricate football.
22 min: Pavard has the opportunity to open his legs and race off down the right flank. A heavy touch allows Saul to slide across and block. That kind of sums up the match right now. Nearly but not quite.
20 min: The match is beginning to open up now. Still no work for either keeper to do, but there’s a sense of both teams, Inter especially, feeling their way towards something.
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18 min: Inter go long. Martinez wins a header in the centre circle, Diogo Jota v Brentford style. He guides it cleverly to De Vrij, of all people, sending the defender romping down the middle. De Vrij attempts to slip Thuram, clear to his left, though on goal. But he gets the pass all wrong and Witsel is on hand to intercept and put an end to the break.
16 min: Bastoni barges his way down the left and loops long for the in-rushing Barella, who can’t get to the cross before it flies out for a goal kick. Both teams look lively in attack, although they’re yet to piece together anything significant in the final third.
14 min: Martinez has a speculative whack from the right-hand edge of the Atletico D. A deflection off Witsel that slaps Molina on the upper arm. Inter want a penalty, but they’re not getting one, quite rightly. Molina could do nothing about that, plus his arm was stuck to the side of his body.
12 min: Lino rolls all the way down the left corridor. He reaches the byline. It’s a fine run, but there’s nobody in the middle to cross to. But Atletico recycle possession, and Lino has another go down the inside-left channel. He opens his body and curls a shot wide of the right-hand post.
10 min: Witsel snaffles possession from Barella and strides into space in the Inter half, only to sleepwalk into trouble. Neither side are in top gear yet.
8 min: Çalhanoğlu latches onto Witsel’s poor headed clearance and creams a first-time shot wide left. Ten out of ten for ambition, five for execution.
7 min: Martinez tries to release Dimarco into space down the left with a cute chest pass. Rasmus Hojlund seems to have started something. Dimarco doesn’t read Martinez’s intention and Atletico mop up.
6 min: Atletico take a bit of the sting out of the game with a period of slightly scrappy possession. Diego Simeone won’t mind it at all.
4 min: Inter quickly come again, latching onto a poor Oblak goal kick. Barella barrels down the right and curls in low for Thuram, who takes a heavy touch as he attempts to control on the edge of the box. Out of play for a goal kick. Inter look lively enough.
3 min: Bastoni floats a ball into the Atletico box from a deep position on the left. Thuram heads harmlessly over.
2 min: Darmian chases what looks like a lost cause down the right and manages to whip the ball towards the near post. Thuram is strangely uninterested in attempting to connect. Oblak gathers. A strange start to the match.
1 min: Mkhitaryan has an early nibble at the ankles of Griezmann, who was thinking about racing off down the right flank. It could have been a booking. It’s not even a foul.
Updated
After a warm round of applause in memory of Brehme, the whistle blows. Atletico kick off.
The teams are out! San Siro as atmospheric as you’d imagine. Inter in their black and blue, Atletico in third-choice green. We’ll be off once the PA system bangs out that Champions theme as opposed to this one.
It’s a desperately sad day for Inter. One of their 1988-89 scudetto winners passed last night. Andreas Brehme played in all but three of Inter’s matches in that memorable Serie A campaign, scoring three goals from left back. A year later, he scored the winning goal in the World Cup final for West Germany. An 85th-minute penalty with his supposedly weaker right foot. Calm as you like. What a fine player he was. Go well, Andi.
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Atléti are positively lukewarm by comparison. But then, with the exception of Manchester City, who wouldn’t be? Diego Simeone’s Colchoneros won five successive games towards the tail end of January, but then went three without victory before the aforementioned rout of Las Palmas. They’ve lost six of their last ten away matches, winning just three, a sequence that includes a 5-3 extra-time defeat by arch-rivals Real Madrid in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup. They’re fourth in La Liga, well off the pace set by their neighbours. They did fly through their Champions League group, mind.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 25 | 37 | 62 |
| 2 | Girona | 25 | 22 | 56 |
| 3 | Barcelona | 25 | 18 | 54 |
| 4 | Atletico Madrid | 25 | 24 | 51 |
| 5 | Athletic Bilbao | 25 | 22 | 49 |
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atletico Madrid | 6 | 11 | 14 |
| 2 | Lazio | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 6 | -1 | 6 |
| 4 | Celtic | 6 | -10 | 4 |
Inter are the hottest team in Europe right now. The aforementioned win over Salernitana was their eighth straight in all competitions, and their sixth in Serie A. They’ve won 20 of their 24 league matches; their sole reverse was a 2-1 home defeat to Sassuolo back in September. That remains the only match they’ve lost in any competition this season. They swanned through the group stage without too much undue fuss, and won the Italian Super Cup last month. Life is fine for Simone Inzaghi and his Nerazzurri.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inter Milan | 24 | 47 | 63 |
| 2 | Juventus | 25 | 21 | 54 |
| 3 | AC Milan | 25 | 18 | 52 |
| 4 | Atalanta | 24 | 24 | 45 |
| 5 | Bologna | 25 | 14 | 45 |
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Sociedad | 6 | 5 | 12 |
| 2 | Inter Milan | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| 3 | Benfica | 6 | -4 | 4 |
| 4 | Red Bull Salzburg | 6 | -4 | 4 |
Inter make two changes to the XI selected to start the 4-0 Serie A win over Salernitana last Friday. Federico Dimarco and Matteo Darmian come in for Denzel Dumfries and Carlos Augusto, who both drop to the bench.
Atlético make four changes to their starting XI in the wake of last Saturday’s 5-0 La Liga victory over Las Palmas. Antoine Griezmann, Axel Witsel, Mario Hermoso and Rodrigo De Paul replace Ángel Correa, Stefan Savić, Reinildo and Pablo Barrios, all of whom drop to the bench.
The teams
Internazionale: Sommer, Pavard, de Vrij, Bastoni, Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco, Thuram, Martinez.
Subs: Dumfries, Arnautovic, Di Gennaro, Klaassen, Frattesi, Buchanan, Asllani, Carlos Augusto, Bisseck, Stankovic, Sanchez, Audero.
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Molina, Witsel, Gimenez, Hermoso, Samuel Dias, Llorente, De Paul, Koke, Saul, Griezmann.
Subs: Moldovan, Gabriel, Depay, Correa, Savic, Riquelme, Vermeeren, Morata, Mandava, Barrios, Gomis.
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania).
Team news 📋#ForzaInter #UCL #InterAtleticoMadrid pic.twitter.com/u3dMdDLWZV
— Inter (@Inter_en) February 20, 2024
🚨 TEAM NEWS 🚨 pic.twitter.com/nPuvhL1zOE
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) February 20, 2024
Preamble
These two bona-fide giants of European football have only met once before. That was in the 2010 Super Cup, when second-half goals from José Antonio Reyes and Sergio Agüero gave Europa League winners Atlético a 2-0 victory over the new European champions Internazionale. Since then, both teams have had their heartbreak in the Champions League, Atlético losing the 2014 and 2016 finals to Real Madrid, Inter bested in last year’s showpiece by Manchester City. Atlético have at least had a couple of Europa League wins since, in 2012 and 2018, to sugar the pill, but both are jonesing for another shot at the ultimate prize. More misery is guaranteed for one of these teams, but which one? The first leg of this round-of-16 tie kicks off at 8pm GMT at San Siro, 9pm local time. It’s on!
