A triumphal night. Inter and Napoli close Wednesday in the Champions League with two very important victories, strongly relaunching their respective chances of qualifying for the round of 4. This is particularly true for the Azzurri, who thanks to the success in Salzburg move up to +XNUMX on the Austrians, moreover maintaining first place in the group, but the Nerazzurri also give a good shake up of the standings, now back in line with the 'objective.
“We had to win to stay alive and we also did it decisively – Conte's analysis. – Last year they worked hard together with Spalletti to get to the Champions League and everything had to be done to continue this dream. Now we'll go to Dortmund, we know it will be tough but we also know that we can play it. But now we need to recover, in less than three days we have to play against Parma, who are doing very well. There is no time to enjoy anything”.
A little lie with a good intention, because he too knows perfectly how important this challenge was. A sort of inside or outside match was played at San Siro, with the Nerazzurri forced to beat Borussia Dortmund in order not to say goodbye to the most prestigious cup as early as October. In short, a game full of pressure, tackled in the best possible way from the beginning.
In fact, Inter were able to strike very early with Lautaro Martinez (22'), who was very good at controlling De Vrij's pass and sending past Burki, thus putting themselves in a position to wait for the opponent to then hit him on the counterattack. This was Conte's plan, aware that he could not ask for more from a team limited by injuries, but also of Borussia's weak points, much better at attacking (even if important elements were missing yesterday) than at defending.
The opening goal made things easier, the rest was done by the usual mix of grit and tactical organization, as well as a great Handanovic. The Slovenian goalkeeper was called into question only twice, but definitely important: his saves on Sancho in the 46th minute and on Brandt in the 64th minute contributed in a fundamental way to the conquest of the 3 points. The move in the 57th minute should also be underlined: out "mister 65 million" Lukaku, in the 17-year-old Esposito, who thus became the youngest Inter player to make his debut in the Champions League since Bergomi.
A gamble? Not a chance. The little boy entered like a fury, so much so that he earned a penalty after burning Matts Hummels, not quite the newcomer. Too bad that Lautaro Martinez let Burki save him (81'), forcing Inter to postpone the liberating scream for a few minutes. Because in the 89th minute, on a counterattack triggered by Brozovic, it was Candreva who blew up San Siro, making official a success that puts Nerazzurri Milan back in the running for the round of 5, awaiting the return to Dortmund on XNUMX November.
That evening will also be there Napoli-Salzburg and who knows Ancelotti won't be able to celebrate the mathematical qualification for the round of 4 with two games to spare. Possibility daughter of yesterday's victory, very heavy for the purposes of a ranking that now sees the Austrians, undoubtedly the most accredited to the role of spoilsport, detached by XNUMX points, moreover without the home game bonus.
It wasn't an easy evening for the Azzurri, indeed for long stretches it was Salzburg who played better and created more, often making Meret's goal tremble. But Ancelotti, an expert navigator of the agitated European seas, knew that the Austrians would fight with their guard down, which is why he chose to leave out both Milik and Llorente and rely on the little ones Lozano and Mertens, decidedly less frameable by the defensive radar set by Marsch.
And if the Mexican disappointed once again, the Belgian was simply superb, scoring two goals (17' and 64') and assisting for the third. Instead, Insigne (73 ') signed that, who entered shortly before in place of the spent Lozano, silencing the Red Bull Arena and all its numerous detractors: the embrace with Ancelotti, in this sense, is worth a thousand words. Anything else to report? The usual great saves by Meret, a Koulibaly once again below expectations and the Norwegian striker from Salzburg Haaland, a young 19-year-old who scored twice (40' from a penalty and 72' with a header) which we will hear a lot about.
“We knew that sacrifice and personality were needed to win here, I got important answers – commented Ancelotti. – I'm happy because we proved to be competitive, even against those who, like Luperto, had played less than others. And then it was a great evening for Mertens, but also for Insigne: I predicted to Lorenzo that it would be decisive…”. Appointment on November 5th, with the certainty, for Inter and Napoli, that they can really compete for qualification for the round of XNUMX.
