Inter and Atletico played the first leg of their Champions League last-16 match at San Siro. Inter prevailed against Atletico by a score of 1-0 thanks to Marko Arnautovic.
The La Liga team, which had defended tenaciously for the entirety of the encounter but presented very little threat in the final third, was defeated by the 34-year-old player, who had missed two wonderful opportunities before finally scoring his third goal to put an end to the match.
Andreas Brehme, a wing-back for Inter who passed away at the age of 63, was honored with a tribute before to the start of the match at San Siro. Brehme was the player who scored the game-winning goal for West Germany in the 1990 World Cup final.
However, Diego Simeone’s Rojiblancos defenders were frequently in the right position at the right time to sweep up any loose balls and did not allow the hosts to have a single shot on target in the first twenty minutes of the match. Simone Inzaghi’s team swiftly gained control of the proceedings in the opening exchanges of the match.
Due to the fact that the defender’s arm was at his side when Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s strike bounced onto his body via the foot of Axel Witsel, the defender’s halfhearted shouts for a penalty against Nahuel Molina’s handball in the thirteenth minute were quickly waived aside.
As the clock ticked down to halftime, Simeone’s strategy of playing with his back against the wall continued to win out. Lautaro Martinez was forced to try his luck from a distance in the 32nd minute, but his attempt was high.
In the 36th minute, Lautaro eventually tried the game’s first goal attempt after beating Jose Gimenez to receive Nicolo Barella’s cross. His header, though, was inches too near Jan Oblak to beat the goalkeeper.
Just two moments later, Rodrigo De Paul almost nullified the efficacy of Atletico’s defensive efforts by delivering a horrible pass directly to Marcus Thuram. Thuram beat Witsel to the loose ball and found Martinez in a central position. However, the visitors were able to get bodies back to deflect the ball behind for a corner kick.
Inter were beginning to gain from some sloppy play from Simeone’s side, and they required Oblak to be attentive in order to collect Thuram’s low strike in the 43rd minute. However, that set-piece did not result in any goals for Inter.
Thuram was replaced by Arnautovic in the Inter attack, and Stefan Savic took over for Gimenez in the Atletico rearguard. Both managers decided to make a little adjustment for the second half of the match.
Arnautovic was presented with a wonderful opportunity just four minutes into the second half of the match. Federico Dimarco sent a bouncing ball to the back post, but Arnautovic was on the stretch and blazed the ball over the top of the crossbar.
Alvaro Morata, who had been listed on the bench due to a knee injury, was eventually brought into the game by Simeone. However, despite the fact that Los Rojblancos showed some promise for a short amount of time, Inter never managed to capitalize on the opportunities that were presented to them.
In the 63rd minute, Arnautovic once again found himself in a beautiful position to score. He played a slick one-two with Martinez on the outside of the box, but Martinez once again cleared the crossbar from only a few yards out.
Martinez was able to get his head to another cross in the 77th minute, this time from Hakan Calhanoglu, but once again, his effort went straight into the gloves of an Oblak who appeared to be impenetrable. Inter continued to put forth a lot of effort.
Martinez was able to speed through on goal thanks to a mistake made by Reinildo in the 79th minute. Oblak was able to parry Martinez’s shot, but Arnautovic was able to score the rebound with the assistance of a deflection off of Samuel Lino. This was the moment that the Slovenian would finally be defeated.
But Lino came close to making amends with a stinging 20-yard drive only two minutes after the stalemate was broken; his effort flew a whisker wide of Yann Sommer’s goal. The Nerazzurri’s opening was certainly earned, but Lino’s effort came just two minutes after the was broken.
Despite this, Atletico had been unable to find its attacking zeal for the entirety of the encounter, and Inter will be able to take a well-deserved advantage to the Wanda Metropolitano for the rematch that will take place in three weeks.
Atletico now gets ready to travel to Almeria in La Liga action this coming Saturday, while Inter will travel to Lecce in Serie A action on February 25.
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