Feminine Inter, triumph Naples. Wednesday of Champions in the name of redemption for the Italians, with the nerazzurri able to stop the Barcelona on the draw at home and the Azzurri to beat theAjax and qualify two games to spare. Great results, with one team already qualified and another very close to doing so: thanks to yesterday's 3-3, in fact, Inter will only need to win at the San Siro with Viktoria Plzen to gain the precious pass. In short, a great evening, which soothes the wounds for the previous one, much more stingy with satisfaction.
Barcelona-Inter 3-3, the draw is even tight for the Nerazzurri
The success would have gone right down to the Nerazzurri's history books, but this draw too, as mentioned above, has the flavor of a feat. Barça had promised fire and flames, but in reality Inter had the best opportunities, so much so that the final 3-3 is even tight for her. It's not a question of ball possession or shots towards goal, but of balls-goals naked and raw: the Nerazzurri, in addition to the 3 goals scored with Barella (50'), Lautaro (63') and Gosens (89'), have made at least as many mistakes, above all the sensational one by Asllani in full recovery. The Barcelona, who had also closed the first half ahead thanks to a goal by Dembelé (40'), thus found himself chasing for almost the entire second half, managing to grab the equalizer only with brace from Lewandowski (82' and 90+2'), but not that victory which would have served him as the air for qualification. Now Inter are totally masters of his destiny, a scenario that was absolutely unimaginable just 10 days ago and instead became real thanks to the reaction from the group, including the coach.
Inzaghi rejoices: "Great game, but we could have won it"
“We had a great game against an opponent of absolute value – he exulted Inzaghi at the press conference -. We created a lot by suffering all together, even if a victory could come that would have led us to finish the group two rounds early. We had to be brave and we succeeded, without ever giving up on playing. We were down in the first half, but I told the lads to be calm because I knew we would create many chances in the second too. Now we have a few more possibilities of go to the round of XNUMX in the most difficult group".
Napoli-Ajax 4-2, the Azzurri mathematically qualified for the round of XNUMX
Evening of great celebration also for the Napoli, albeit with a decidedly lower adrenaline rate. After all, the Azzurri weren't faced with an in or out, but with the possibility of closing the games for qualification: mission accomplished, thanks to the usual splendid performance of a team that seems immune to voltage drops, as demonstrated by the nine consecutive victories between the championship and the Champions League. L'Ajax promised battle, both for a question of standings (now second place is a mirage) and pride, given the 6 goals conceded in the first leg, but the Azzurri immediately set the record straight, finding the 1-0 with Lush (4') after a splendid choral action, with the usual kvaratskhelia on shields. Soon after Breakers doubled (16') and Maradona understood that it would be another night of celebration, even if the Dutch tried to ruin it at the start of the second half with Klaassen (49'), just when Spalletti was about to replace injured Anguissa (grievance in his right thigh) and let Osimhen back on the field after a month and a half stop. In any case, the fear, if it can be defined as such, did not last long because Kvaratskhelia re-established the distance with a penalty (62'), effectively closing the match. Bergwijn's subsequent penalty (83'), in fact, came too late to worry Napoli, but not enough to prevent Osimhen from scoring the fourth and last goal of the evening (89'), just to reiterate to everyone that he's back skilled and enlisted.
Spalletti celebrates: "Qualifying with two rounds to spare is a huge thing"
“I train some guys who have done something huge, we have brought in the pride of an entire people and their desire and determination to want to stay in this cup – the proud words of Spalletti -. The level of the Champions League is very high, here in the only distraction, while we were trying to replace Anguissa, they scored us immediately and then created some difficulties for us. If you lower your pace and are not continuous, with the dribble and with the quality you have, Ajax will immediately get in front of the goalkeeper… Osimhen? His physical condition was unknown, that's why I chose Raspadori with whom we dribbled better ”.
