Inter and Benfica suffered setbacks in the 1st round of the UEFA Champions League group stage. The Milan club drew away with Real Sociedad (1:1), and the Portuguese lost to Salzburg (0:2). Therefore, the match at Giuseppe Meazza on October 3 had special value in the form of the advantage that the winner would gain in a strategic sense over the loser.
We must admit: Inter clearly indicated their desire to attack from the very first minutes. And if in the first half there was nothing special to remember except Dumfries’ chance and his inaccurate header, then after the break the hosts pressed Benfica very hard against the goal. The barrage of attacks and numerous blows from Lautaro Martinez and his partners tested the nerves of not only Anatoly Trubin and the Benfica coaching staff, but also all of its fans. And Ukrainians too. In one episode, Martinez even hit the crossbar, and then there was a goal. It was the active Dumfries from the right flank who made the perfect cross, and Marcus Thuram drove the ball into the goal in touch.
Then the picture did not change: Benfica fought back, occasionally launching counterattacks, and Inter tried to score more. But Trubin twice kicked seemingly dead balls from Lautaro Martinez. As a result, the Inter captain, who scored four goals against Salernitana at the weekend, lost his local duel to the Ukrainian goalkeeper. But his team won – 1:0.
2023-24, Champions League
Inter – Benfica 1:0 (0:0)
Goals: Thuram M., 62 (1:0)
Inter: Sommer; Acerbi; Pawar; Bastogne; DiMarco (Carlos Augusto, 84); Dumfries (Darmian, 73); Mkhitaryan; Barella (Klassen D., 91); Calhanoglu (Aslani K., 84); Thuram M. (Sanchez A., 73); Martinez L.
Subs: Di Gennaro; Audero; de Vrij; Bissek; Cuadrado; Sarr
Warnings: Martinez L. 66; Dumfries 70; Aslani K. 95
Benfica: Trubin; Otamendi; Morato F.; Eurosnes; Bernat (Arthur K., 80); Di Maria (Jurasek D., 80); Kökçü (Musa P., 69); Neves J.P.; Silva Rafa (Ciquinho, 69); Neres; Bach A. (Araújo T., 22)
Subs: Soares C.; Kokubo; Florentin; Mario J.; Gouveia; Tengstedt K.; Guedes G.
2023-10-03 21:20:00
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