A giant flop and an amazing feat. On the day of the death of Diego Armando Maradona, whom Naples will duly celebrate today (the Municipality has proclaimed mourning for the city and decided to name the San Paolo stadium after him), Italian football offered Europe two decidedly different versions. On the one hand the disaster of Inter, beaten once again by Real Madrid and now one step away from elimination, on the other the great test of Atalanta, capable of storming Anfield and defeating Liverpool champions of England. Difficult to find a trait d'union between two such different games, diametrically opposed both in the development and in the final.
The respective classifications, moreover, speak for themselves: Conte's Nerazzurri occupy the last place and link their hopes of qualification only to mathematics, Gasperini's have grabbed Ajax and, calendar in hand, can even be said to be favorites for the shift passage. Accused, once again, the coach of Inter, unable to give a soul to his team. But if in the league, in one way or another, the Scudetto train is still within reach, this is not the case in the Champions League, where the round of XNUMX is a real mirage: in fact, winning the next two may not be enough. all the more so a draw would be enough for Real Madrid and Borussia Moenchengladbach on the last day.
In short, disaster is around the corner and it is not only the result of yesterday's match, but of a gravely insufficient European path, below even the most nefarious expectations. On the eve it was Conte himself who defined the match against Blancos as a final, but his parents must not have received the message. Inter approached the match exactly like they did against Turin on Sunday, but if 20 minutes were enough to put things right, it wasn't like that yesterday, where the values were very different. The Spaniards, already leading in the 7th minute with a penalty from Hazard, dominated the game without problems, nearly doubling with Vazquez (Handanovic beat the post) and, more generally, not allowing the Nerazzurri to do anything.
At 33' the key episode, that is the expulsion of Vidal for protests after an alleged penalty not granted: sensational ingenuity, primarily because the fact does not exist (Varane seems to take the ball), but above all for having left 10 teammates in the decisive match. You might expect things like this from Barella and Sensi who come from Cagliari and Sassuolo (any reference to Conte's sentences after Dortmund is not purely coincidental), certainly not from a highly decorated champion taken mainly for his mentality and experience. From then on, the already complex match became almost impossible, so much so that Real Madrid limited themselves to closing it (59', Hakimi's own goal in an attempt to stop Rodrygo) and managing it, just as if they were in front of a provincial.
"Basically it's already difficult to play against such important teams, if we're ready to go and go one goal down and we're left with ten, then it becomes a difficult mountain to climb - commented Conte - We saw the difference between us and them, but this shouldn't discourage us, but make us understand that there is a way to go, a job to do. We must not let ourselves be captivated by the sirens, but continue to be humble. The only path we can take is that of work and growth, from all points of view”.
Completely different climate in the house Atalanta, where the umpteenth feat of the Gasperini gang is recorded. Winning in Liverpool, moreover without conceding a goal, would be exceptional for anyone, let alone for a team like Atalanta, built, it should be remembered, with a turnover six times lower than that of the English champions. Yet in the field all this economic difference has not been seen, also because Klopp, perhaps conditioned by the 5-0 of the first leg, he saw fit to make a turnover, leaving out people like Firmino, Jota, Fabinho, Minamino and Robertson.
The players from Bergamo, on the other hand, despite the bad draw against Spezia, have rediscovered the polish of their best days, coincidentally on the night of Josip's return to goal Ilicic. The Slovenian, great protagonist of last season's European run, scored the 1-0 in the 60th minute, breaking the balance of the match. At that point Klopp released his horses from the bench but it was Atalanta who scored again, this time with Goossens, well served by Hateboer (64'). A great success, which allows the DEA to think seriously about the round of XNUMX: if she beats the little Midtjylland next Tuesday, in fact, she could even go to Amsterdam with two results out of three available.
“Winning here against a team of this value is a great satisfaction, as well as fundamental for the progress in the Champions League – confirmed Gasperini – We had a great match managing to express our concepts. They had some different players compared to the first leg, but we played a better game managing to be compact and close, playing technically well. It's a deserved result."
As well as a nice way of pay homage to the Pibe de Oro, who from up there, like a good self-respecting revolutionary, must have enjoyed seeing the Goddess slap the giant in the red shirt.
