Inter
is already in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
They prevailed in the old style of Italian teams: a goal in the first leg, well defended as a visitor, although it had to depend almost on a miracle until the end
.
This was enough for him to eliminate Porto and continue on all three fronts (he is in the semifinals of the Italian Cup and second in Serie A, although 18 points behind a Napoli Maradoniano).
The first half was reasonable in terms of its development: Porto -needed by the disadvantage in the first leg, 0-1 at the Meazza- had the ball (69% possession) and was always the one who wanted the most, the one who
tried even to force Inter to play -at times- with five defenders
, with the setbacks of Dumfries and Dimarco.
But
the Benfica guard in the Portuguese League lacked clarity in the last few meters
.
Two arrivals with a sensation of goal can hardly be scored: a shot by Matheus Uribe, this round of 16 round of the Champions League just started, and another cross shot by Evanilson that Bastoni prevented from being a goal, six minutes from the end of the first half .
Already in the complement,
Inter was lulling Porto
, divided the ball, kept it away from the Onana area and -at least in appearance- it was directing the tie.
It's true: closed, even, always on the ledge of a detail making her change course.
Captain Lautaro Martínez, beyond the fact that he participated little, was active and was the one who most disturbed the local defense
.
It's true anyway: center backs Fabio Cardoso and Iván Marcano put in a solid performance against the world champion striker with Argentina.
Romelu Lukaku -author of the only goal in the match played in Milan- was on the substitute bench.
He just entered with twenty minutes left.
He took the place of Edin Dzeko, as Lautaro's attack partner.
With 15 minutes to go,
Grujic - Porto's best player - had the clearest shot with a shot from the edge of the area.
But Onana insurance prevented the series from evening out.
Mark can't believe it.
Porto was very close to the goal in discount.
(REUTERS/Pedro Nunes)
And so,
defending with all their players behind the line of the ball against an unclear Porto in the decisive stretch of the field and of the game, Inter managed to get a passport to the next round
by minimal difference.
But there was also suffering
: in injury time, Porto had two very clear ones.
The first, Marcano missed it;
the second between Onana and the stick avoided local relief.
In the end, in any case, the feeling that Inter was left with was one of maximum happiness
.
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