2024-03-13 22:48:00
There are fewer and fewer places left in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Before Wednesday’s round of 16 matches, we already knew six participants in the next phase of the competition – Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Arsenal and FC Barcelona. This group will be complemented by better teams from the pairs Atletico Madrid – Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund – PSV. In this first match, the referee was Szymon Marciniak, whom one of the Italian portals called “the talisman of the Milanese”. There was also a comparison to Al Pacino.
The first meeting between these teams at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza ended with a 1-0 win for Inter after a goal by Marko Arnautovic. The current leader of the Italian league approached the rematch at Civitas Metropolitano without losing a single match in 2024. Atletico, however, stumbled against Cadiz CF (0:2). However, fans of this team could be reassured by the fact that Diego Simeone, as Atletico’s coach, did not lose a single home match in Madrid in the Champions League.
Inter’s lead lasted only two minutes. Atletico is fighting fiercely
The match in Madrid started with a strong attack from Atletico. Inter was pushed to the defensive, and a relatively quick lead could have embarrassed the Italians. Atletico mainly threatened with crosses and quick counter-attacks. However, Yann Sommer coped with attempts by Samuel Lino, Stefan Savić and Alvaro Morata. Gradually, Inter tried to respond to this. In the tenth minute, Marcus Thuram tried to pass a long shot to Federico Dimarco, but the ball was cut by one of the defenders.
Three minutes later, Inter launched a quick attack. Denzel Dumfries fired two shots in this action, but Jan Oblak blocked both attempts. Lautaro Martinez also tried to shoot from distance. The statistics began to equalize and Inter became more and more bold. And it was he who took the lead in the 33rd minute when Nicolo Barella served Dimarco with a good pass in the Atletico penalty area. The Inter swing’s shot was so precise that Oblak was unable to intervene. However, the visitors’ lead lasted two minutes.
Atletico responded with a goal from Antoine Griezmann, who took advantage of a missed clearance and the fact that Hakan Calhanoglu failed to intercept Koke’s pass. In the 43rd minute, Griezmann’s shot was blocked at the last moment by Benjamin Pavard.
How did Szymon Marciniak cope? The Polish referee had a calm match to officiate in the first half, and there were no controversial situations. There was nothing to complain about.
Atletico pressed and got the result. And it could have avoided overtime at the last minute
Inter entered the second half much better than the first. This time Atletico was much calmer. In the 50th minute, Calhanoglu could have fired a dangerous shot at Oblak’s goal, but Griezmann made the tackle in time. Crosses from Marcos Llorente caused a great threat in the Inter penalty area. After one of them, Griezmann fired a strong shot, which Sommer managed in stages. During the second attempt at the cross, Llorente missed Morata’s shot. Inter also looked for opportunities to attack, but there was no better final pass.
Atletico’s main way of threatening Inter was through crosses. The Italians coped with it well, although luck was also needed. He was missed twice by Memphis Depay. Inter relied mainly on counter-attacks. In the 81st minute, Lautaro Martinez started the game, spotting Barella running in. However, the Inter midfielder then hit straight at the intervening Oblak. Atletico was desperately looking for a goal that would take extra time and they managed to get it in the 87th minute.
Depay then received a pass from Koke and, thanks to his directional reception, passed his opponent and then beat Sommer. Civitas Metropolitano went crazy at that moment. Six minutes later, Rodrigo Riquelme had the match ball after a pass from Griezmann. However, Atletico’s swing shot was terrible, so everything had to be decided in extra time or in a penalty shootout.
Marciniak did not notice Thuram’s behavior. It should have been a red card. Atletico throws out the Champions League finalist
First, Inter started creating chances in extra time. Yann Bisseck crossed the ball to Thuram’s head, but the Frenchman’s attempt was off target. In response, Riquelme passed a great pass into the penalty area to Depay and the Dutchman’s attempt was saved by Sommer. Lautaro Martinez also made a mistake. However, Inter should have played short from the 100th minute, when Thuram held Savić by the groin. However, this situation escaped Marciniak and the Polish referee team, which is a big mistake. It appears that VAR was unable to look into the situation.
There were no such clear-cut situations in the second part of overtime. In one of the actions, Depay could have taken advantage of De Vrij’s mistake when passing to Sommer, but everything ended happily for Inter. Ultimately, everything was decided in penalty kicks.
The first round saw certain hits from Calhanoglu and Depay. Then, Sanchez and Niguez’s shots were saved by Atletico and Inter goalkeepers. Oblak then sensed Klaassen’s intentions. In the end, Atletico won 3-2 after Lautaro Martinez shot over the goal.
Borussia Dortmund completes the group of quarterfinalists. Great start
In Wednesday’s second match at Signal Iduna Park, Borussia Dortmund defeated PSV Eindhoven 2-0. Already in the fourth minute, BVB was leading after Jadon Sancho’s goal. The hosts controlled this match. In the second half of the match, PSV began to assert itself and create more chances. However, Borussia scored the second goal, advancing in the 95th minute thanks to Marco Reus’ goal. In the 77th minute, Niclas Fullkrug beat the PSV goalkeeper, but VAR canceled the goal due to offside.
The draw for the quarter-final pairs and the Champions League bracket will take place next Friday. Live coverage of this event will be available to watch on the official UEFA website.
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