Inter Sucker Punched

 It’s nice to qualify for the Champions League; the prestige and honour of being the best or one of the best four teams in your country playing amongst others of equal standing. Then there are the memories of glorious Champions League nights of the past as well. For the club, it is financially beneficial if a club is involved in the Champions League as well. After a long period of absence, Inter has been qualifying for the Champions League for the past three seasons now but have disappointingly exited the tournament in the group stage in all three seasons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFKNJiTSBTE

Another Defeat To Real Madrid

We started this campaign against Real Madrid as champions of Italy at home in the San Siro. The last time we played them at the same venue, we were beaten and outplayed with 10 men for large periods of the game. Like in that match, I felt Real Madrid was no longer the power that they were and can be beaten. They had experience on their side from having stalwarts of past glorious campaigns but they could still be beaten. Going into this game, I was optimistic that we would give a better account of ourselves and we did but we still ended the match with 0 points and a defeat. Real Madrid doesn’t have a good record at the San Siro against Inter and AC Milan but has now won there two games in a row.

Frustrating Profligacy

It was a frustrating match that for all our good play especially in the first half, we had nothing to show for it. We placed shots wide or shot straight at Thibaut Courtois. The only time he made a good save and was stretched was from an Edin Dzeko corner. The same toothlessness caused our exit from the Champions League last season and it came back to haunt us. We had the better of the first half while in the second, Real improved but our defence held firm and we still had chances to score.

Punished

For all our solid and stout defending, it is a kick in the guts to then lose focus for a brief moment and lose the game in the last minute. We deserved to win this match but we don’t always get what we deserve in life. If you don’t score goals in matches like this, you will get punished. That is the lesson we were taught in this match. It should have been something we were already aware of after our experience last season but have still not learnt from it.

Tweaks Needed

It’s a new Inter that I feel is still finding its feet despite keeping the core of the squad and playing with the same formation. The lack of pace without Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku in transitions and counter-attacks is evident. I feel it has come time to blood Denzel Dumfries from the start and play with Joaquin Correa and Lautaro Martinez as a partnership. We started the season very well against Genoa but what we did very well in that match was the off-the-ball running of the midfielders to join the attack and that has been missing in our subsequent matches. I feel we need to freshen up the team a bit now with games coming at us every two to three days. On to the next one then.