The double crossing with Porto in the round of 16 brings the Nerazzurri clean sheets in the Champions League to 5, a record for the last 13 years. In Serie A, on the other hand, the bipolar system reigns between seals at home and holes away
The images of Do Dragao’s heroic resistance are there, imprinted in the minds of Inter fans with the deep fear of an infinite instant to then leave room for the euphoric relief of qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals. André Onana’s saves, Denzel Dumfries’ save and also the two woodworkers in injury time, as well as Francesco Acerbi’s impressive performance. In short, a defense on the European stage.
Wall
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And it’s not the first time in the competition that Simone Inzaghi’s team has left the field without injuries, far from it. On the contrary, the Nerazzurri only conceded goals in the double-header against Bayern Munich and in the away match at Camp Nou: for the rest, armored doors, from Porto to Viktoria Plzen up to Giuseppe Meazza’s unforgettable night against Barcelona. After the drop in results following the treble, Inter obviously took some time to regain their status at continental level, now they seem to have made it: two changes of ownership and many coaches have passed, but more than five goals clean sheets in a single Champions League season have not been seen since the 2009-2010 season in Milan for the nerazzurri, when with José Mourinho they reached six. Same in 2002-03, twice in all since the European Cup changed its name. And behind the data there is a department that in Europe often gives its best: Onana has already been said, Acerbi was once again monumental as already savored with Barcelona, but the whole defensive phase of the team seemed well more careful than the recent past in Italy. And Milan Skriniar and Alessandro Bastoni are sought-after defenders across the continent. Sure, if Porto had scored in the end, we’d be talking about something else, but the “zero” remained on the scoreboard and that’s what matters.
On e off
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And to think that a handful of days ago the analyzes underlined a worrying figure to say the least, with the Inter defense not conceding so many away goals in the league (24 in 13 matches) since the 1940s. This statistic makes Inzaghi reflect, who does not deny the problem and tries to remedy what appears to be a curse. Because there was bad luck, of course, with goals conceded on very few occasions, but chance can influence the figure for a bad evening, not more than halfway through the season. Inter’s concern lies right there: is the team capable of resisting most of the European offensives, because in Serie A they almost always end up paying the price on away games, even if they are not prohibitive? If copy-pasting were enough, the coach wouldn’t hesitate to practice it to transfer attention and motivation from the Champions League to the league as well, where locking up the away goal could mean smooth sailing towards second place. And towards the next Champions League, in a virtuous circle that brings only good news.
March 17, 2023 (change March 17, 2023 | 11:10 am)
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