Tag: Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Inter jumps all over AC Milan in Champions League semifinal first leg

Inter is in charge of the biggest Derby della Madonnina in 20 years

The Champions League version of the Derby della Madonnina was a dream for the blue half of Milan.

Inter scored two first-half goals to down AC Milan 2-0 in the first leg of their semifinal, with Edin Džeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan turning their side’s early dominance into a significant edge at the San Siro.

“It feels very good, especially because it’s a derby. We played away on paper. It’s a great result for us,” Džeko told BT Sport after the match. “Sometimes you get in this difficult moment where the ball doesn’t want to go in. Patience and work always pays off. I was calm knowing the goals would come as always. Today is the proof.”

Playing what is technically their home leg in a stadium the two teams share, AC Milan’s misery began in the eighth minute, with Džeko conjuring up a thunderous volley on an Inter corner kick.

On the positive side for the Rossoneri? UEFA has ditched the away goals rule. However, the negatives cover just about everything else, as Inter’s high pressure appeared to catch them off-guard throughout the first half. With stars Rafael Leão and Zlatan Ibrahimovic watching from the stands, AC Milan offered little threat of a comeback.

Inter made their superiority count, going up 2-0 just three minutes later. Federico DiMarco burst into space on the left before cutting the ball across the top of the box for Lautaro Martínez. The World Cup winner dummied the ball on for Mkhitaryan, who finished the move off with a powerful shot.

Things could have been worse, with Martínez initially winning a first-half penalty kick only for VAR to overturn the initial decision. Later, Inter felt hard done by after Rade Krunić was shown on replay to possibly strike Alessandro Bastoni with a closed fist while defending a set piece. No call was made, and on this occasion VAR didn’t intervene.

This was the biggest Milan derby in 20 years, when these teams met at this exact stage of the 2002-03 Champions League. Back then, AC Milan benefitted from the away goals rule, going through despite a 1-1 aggregate scoreline because their goal came in Inter’s “home” leg.

Despite the chances that they can avenge that particular outcome being high at this point, Džeko rejected the idea that Inter would ease up in the second leg.

“We’re an experienced team. We know what we’ve done today,” said the Bosnia and Herzegovina striker. “Nothing is yet finished. In the Champions League only great teams arrive in the semi-finals, so we have to be careful and concentrate like today.”

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Barcelona on the brink of Champions League elimination after astounding Inter draw

Barca’s in trouble even after a wild late comeback

Say what you will about them, but Barcelona doesn’t do boring.

Staring Champions League elimination in the face, Barca scraped out a 3-3 home draw with Inter despite having trailed both 2-1 and 3-2 after the 80th minute. Robert Lewandowski pulled the Catalans level in the 82nd minute, and then had to do it again in stoppage time after Robin Gosens had taken the lead back for Inter on an 89th minute counter-attack.

Ousmane Dembélé had given Barca a first-half lead in a game that they more or less had to win to stay alive, only for Nicolò Barella and Lautaro Martínez to give Inter the lead by the 63rd minute.

Lewandowski’s brace, on either side of Gosens’ strike, cemented a high-scoring draw that could have easily seen a few more goals. Inter manager Simone Inzaghi was sent off in stoppage time, while Barcelona were very lucky that Kristjan Asllani wasted a golden chance to finish them off, choosing not to pass to a wide-open Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the game’s dying moments.

Scenarios are looking grim

The result still isn’t particularly good for Barcelona, who now need a miracle to stay alive in Group C. Namely, they need Viktoria Plzen — who have lost all four of their matches in the Champions League so far, and have given up an average of four goals per game — to go to the San Siro in two weeks’ time and get at least a point against Inter.

An early exit would be a repeat of last year, when Bayern and Benfica both finished ahead of them in Group E.

If the Italian side wins that match, Barcelona will be dumped into the Europa League. With the first tiebreaker being head-to-head, and Inter having beaten Barca 1-0 in Italy earlier in the competition, there would be no way for the Blaugrana to get ahead of them.

Even if Barcelona gets the unlikely help from Plzen, they’d still have to beat Bayern Munich, who amid all this chaos have calmly strolled to four wins from four games in the competition. Theoretically, Barcelona could stay alive with a draw against Bayern, but it would require a Plzen win over Inter, and it would still leave Barca needing a win and an Inter loss on the sixth matchday.

Barcelona is under immense pressure to somehow wriggle out of this jam. There is the customary aspect of being a big club that is expected to get to the knockout rounds in every edition of the Champions League, but Barcelona has more than their pride under threat.

The club’s flailing attempts to register their summer transfers meant leveraging their financial future for the present, and getting to the knockout round comes with some potentially major prize money. Simply getting through Group C would bring in €9.6 million, while the eventual tournament winner will get €68.2 million in rewards from UEFA.

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