Inter took an important 2 goal lead over Benfica in Lisbon. The Goal from Barella and Lukaku took Nerazzurri ahead in the scoreboard.
Morato and Gilberto replaced Otamendi and Bah in the starting lineup for Benfica under the direction of manager Roger Schmidt.
For this match, Inter manager Inzaghi brought Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez pairing up front instead of Lukaku. Milan Skriniar and Hakan Calhanoglu were both injured and did not play.
Early in the game, Benfica had a good amount of possession, but Inter did a good job of keeping the ball out of their goal. Brozovic attempted to cross after Inter worked a short corner, but he overhit the ball, giving Benfica a goal kick.
On the left wing, Rafa Silva challenged Darmian and won a corner for Benfica. Chiquinho attempted to take a corner, but Dumfries headed the ball away. Florentino attempted to curl outside the box in an attempt to succeed, but his attempt flew over the bar. In this game, both teams got off to strong starts.
Rafa Silva’s goal was prevented by a good save by Onana. The goalkeeper was well-positioned and used his right arm to parry the ball away. Mario attempted to use his volley to get the ball past Onana, but he missed the left post with his shot.
While patiently moving the ball, Inter was having trouble combining in the last third of the pitch. Acerbi fired a strong shot from a distance, but it narrowly missed the mark. When attacking, Dimarco and Dumfries pushed very high up the pitch, overloading both wings. For the time being, Benfica appeared at ease defending the crosses.
Following a VAR review after the ball struck Darmian in the penalty area on the arm, the official decided against awarding a penalty because Darmian’s arm was in a natural position.
To prevent Dzeko from advancing on goal for Benfica, Morato made a crucial interception. Martinez attempted to pass to his forward partner, but the defender correctly read the situation and took possession of the ball. Rafa Silva was fouled by Acerbi, who was in a good spot for Benfica. From the set-piece, Grimaldo sent in a cross, but it had no effect.
Barella cut his left foot while attempting to loft a pass towards Dzeko in the penalty area. The striker successfully timed his run to remain onside, but he is unable to receive the pass. After a superb pass from Barella, Dimarco played a first-time cross, but his ball in was just in front of both Inter strikers.
Barella’s header of the ball past Vladchodimos gave Inter their first goal. World-class delivery from Bastoni into the box, and Barella’s perfectly timed run allowed him to win the header while going unnoticed.
Benfica responded well to falling behind by launching a front-footed attack. But now that Inter is ahead, they seem much more at ease defending. Rafa was prevented from putting the ball in the back of the net to equalise by a superb diving block by Dumfries. The winger received the ball after it was deflected, and he poked it towards goal, but Dumfries quickly intervened to keep Inter ahead.
Benfica were doing well in their build-up play, but just lacking the end product they needed to score. They needed to find the quality that helped them breeze past Club Brugge in the last round.
Inzaghi wanted his side to score at least one more goal before the end of the game, but the main priority will be to keep the lead. Inter were defending well at the moment.
Vladchodimos made a crucial save to stop Mkhitaryan from scoring. The midfielder tried to shoot low past the goalkeeper, but vladchodimos did well to close the angle down and made himself big.
Inter flooded players forward on the counter and it was Barella driving forward with the ball. He chose to shoot instead of passing to a team-mate, and it was the wrong choice as he completely missed the target.
Inter almost scored a second goal in identical fashion, but Vladchodimos made a good save. Bastoni whipped the ball towards the far post and Dumfries attacked it. He headed the ball into the ground and the goalkeeper pushed it away. After a cross from Dumfries, Mario handled the ball in box, giving Inter a penalty. Lukaku beat Vladchodimos to give Inter the second goal they needed. The custodian dove in the right direction, but he was unable to block the shot.
Ramos missed a fantastic opportunity for Benfica with the game’s final kick after Onana made a good save. Benfica would need to reflect while Inter would be thrilled with the outcome.
FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE ON TWITTER
READ MORE;
Lazio 2-1 Juventus: Lazio beat juve at Olimpico battle