A very bitter night. For the Milan, mocked by a non-existent penalty in the 97th minute, But also for Inter, again stop by Shakhtar Donetsk, just like a year ago. The bitterness is great, especially in the Rossoneri's home where the feat was cherished for a long time, only to see it slip away a few moments from the end. The game at San Siro had two sides, with the flaming Devil for half an hour and the Spaniards in the second half: the watershed was undoubtedly Kessié's expulsion, kicked out for double yellow card in the 29th minute by the Turkish referee Çakir (perhaps fiscal decision, but in line with the regulation).
At first Pioli's team, already ahead thanks to a Leao's goal (20'), he held up, even coming close to doubling again with the Portuguese, protagonist of a screaming bicycle kick stopped only by the crossbar. Had she entered, we would probably find ourselves commenting on another story, but the episodes, in the light of what happened, only smiled at the Colchoneros. Which, predictably, took possession of the field in the second half, also thanks to Simeone's multimillion-dollar injections from the bench (inside Griezmann, Joao Felix and De Paul), in spite of a Pioli reduced to 10 and forced to respond with Ballo- Touré, Kalulu, Florenzi and a Giroud still far from the best form.
Atletico Madrid locked up Milan in their own half, without however creating excessive dangers at Maignan's goal, at least until the 84th minute, when Griezmann invented the draw with a left-footed volley following an assist from Renan Lodi. One by one and the ball in the centre, with Milan even finding the energy to go forward and come close to making it 2-1 with Florenzi. But the episodes, as we said before, all went in one direction, with the apex in the 93rd minute: touch with arm of Kalulu and penalty for the Spaniards. More than 3' passed from there to Suarez's shot, due to a check that evidently didn't find everyone in agreement: the reason lies in the fact that Lemar in turn touches the ball with his arm, moreover for a moment before Kalulu. In the end, however, the penalty was confirmed and the Pistolero made it 1-2, giving his team a success that is worth a good chunk of qualification: the classification of group B, in the light of Liverpool's 1-5 draw in Oporto, now sees the Reds first at 6 points, the Spanish second at 4, the Portuguese third at 1 e Milan are last at zero odds.
“I feel great disappointment, we were close to an important result against a very strong team – he sighed Pioli – In eleven against eleven we played much better and this must give us even more conviction. I'm sorry because just a little more attention was needed, especially on the first goal where there were many of us defending, still coming out defeated despite the effort at the moment complicating the rankings. The referee? He certainly wasn't the man of the match…”.
Unhappy evening even for Inter, leaving Kiev only with a draw. The 0-0 final, the third in a row between the Nerazzurri and Shakhtar also considering last year's matches, leaves a bad taste in the mouth, but above all Inzaghi's team in third place (together with the Ukrainians) in the group, detached Of 5 points from the Sheriff, sensationally victorious at the Bernabeu, and minus 2 from Real Madrid. For heaven's sake, qualification remains very possible, especially since in the next round Inter will receive the Moldovans at the San Siro, while De Zerbi will have to contend with Ancelotti's Blancos, but once again there is the feeling of a team unable to do the leap in European quality.
“We faced a team that was healthy, technically good and did a lot of dribbling – the analysis by Inzaghi – We had the demerit of not taking advantage of the opportunities, their goalkeeper was in a great night. Even on a not so brilliant evening we had five goals and we could have won it for what we created. The group is very balanced, now let's see how our double confrontation with Sheriff and Shakhtar's against Real Madrid will go, then we'll see how the direct clash in November will go at our home". Opportunities in hand, actually, Inter deserved more than
Shakhtar, saved fromimprecision of the Nerazzurri forwards and a great Pyatov, decisive despite turning 37 in June. The first real goal came in the 15th minute with Barella, whose right-footed shot hit the crossbar: it would have been a cover goal, but nothing. In the 34th minute the biggest waste of the match, signed by Dzeko, who managed to kick high just two meters from the goal line. From then on, Shakhtar took on more courage, thanks to an Inter that was a little more unloaded and bogged down than usual, and managed the match well in the second half, limiting their opponents and also creating some problems in the counterattack. In the final, however, the Nerazzurri came close to scoring again, on two occasions: the first, in the 86th minute, with Correa, author of a right-footed shot deflected for a corner by a feline reflex from Pyatov; the second right on the next corner, with an imperious break from De Vrij rejected once again by the Ukrainian goalkeeper.
And so, for the second time in a row, Europe that counts proves stingy with compliments to Milan, now forced to do the calculations so as not to leave prematurely.
