CHAMPIONS’ LEAGUE
QUAD FINAL, RETURN CUT
Atlético Madrid (Spain) – Internazionale (Italy) 2–1 (1–1, 2–1, 2–1) – with penalties: 3–2
Madrid, Metropolitan Stadium. Led by: Szymon Marciniak (lengyel).
ATLETICO MADRID: Oblak – Szavics, Witsel, Hermoso – Molina (Barrios, 79.), M. Llorente (Azpilicueta, 98.), Koke, De Paul (Á. Correa, 71.), Lino (Riquelme, 71.) – Morata (Depay , 79.), Griezmann (Saúl, 106.). Head coach: Diego Simeone.
INTERNATIONAL: Summer – Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni (Acerbi, 73.) – Dumfries (Darmian, 73.), Barella (Frattesi, 84.), Calhanoglu, Mhitarjan (Klaassen, 111.), Dimarco (Bisseck, 84.) – La . . . . Martinez, M. Thuram (A. Sanchez, 102.). Head coach: Simone Inzaghi.
Scorer: Griezmann (35.), Depay (87.), ill. Dimarco (33.)
Advance: Atlético Madrid 2-2, penalty kicks.
SUMMARY
In 1999, Diego Simeone and Simone Inzaghi arrived at Lazio at the same time – the Argentinian remained a player of the capital club until 2003, the Italian until 2010. They met as coaches on Wednesday. The match started in a fantastic atmosphere, Samuel Lino’s shot was saved by Yann Sommer, then Inter, who survived the first ten hot minutes, got a chance through Denzel Dumfries at the end of an excellent counter, but both of the Dutchman’s shots were saved by Jan Oblak.
Atlético attacked aggressively, but if the Milanese beat the Spaniards, they had space to lead counterattacks, although Inter was hindered for a long time by Nicolo Barella’s unusually weak performance. When the Italian manager made a precise pass, it immediately ended in a goal: at the end of a quick attack fit for an educational film, he fed it to Federico Dimarco, who took the lead for the visitors. However, only 136 seconds passed, and the home team reacted: the visiting defenders hit each other with the ball, Benjamin Pavard was clumsy, and Antoine Griezmann shot from a turn into the right side of the goal, 1-1. The fight was huge, the game was intense, both teams had a chance to score their second goal before the break.
After the break, Atlético pushed their positions higher, and the guests’ chances of counterattacking increased in parallel, it was clear then that the next goal could be of decisive importance. As the minutes ticked by, it became more and more urgent for Atlético. Marcus Thuram was in a great position, but he shot over it, so the Spaniards could continue to hope. Diego Simeone changed two more, Inter started to tire, they tried to close the roads leading to their goal. The home guard increased the pressure, but Barella was able to come out, but he shot terribly on goal. And it cost Inter a lot, because Memphis Depay hit the post at first, but his next shot ended up in the lower right corner – Atlético won extra time.
In the extra time, both teams strove for safety, so penalties were awarded. In the first series, Hakan Calhanoglu and Memphis Depay also scored, but then three mistakes followed: Jan Oblak saved the shots of Alexis Sánchez and Davy Klaassen, while Saúl made it worse for the home side. Rodrigo Riquelme gave Atlético the advantage, and after Francesco Acerbi shot on goal in vain, Ángel Correa also had a good shot. In the last series, Lautaro Martínez kicked the penalty shot high above, so Atlético reached the top eight.