For Bayer twice too often impossible to defend: Inter Romelu Lukaku
Photo: Marius Becker / dpaInter Milan are in the semi-finals of the Europa League. The Italian runner-up won 2: 1 (2: 1) against the last Bundesliga club in the competition, Bayer Leverkusen. The goals for Inter were scored by Nicolò Barella (15th minute) and Romelu Lukaku (21st), while Kai Havertz was successful for Bayer (24th). The game took place in the Fortuna Düsseldorf stadium, one of the four venues of the final tournament of the Europa League in North Rhine-Westphalia that was made necessary by the corona pandemic.
Without the suspended Charles Aránguiz and the briefly injured Sven Bender, Bayer started the game with significantly more possession, but without any control of the game: Antonio Contes Milanese made Bayer's attempts at a development game during the transition from defense to midfield. Bayer let the ball go, but rarely came out of their own half.
Inter, on the other hand, immediately became dangerous when Peter Bosz's team surrendered possession - especially if Lukaku was found in the center: Daley Sinkgraven was able to block one of the Belgian’s first goals. ). A few minutes later, Lukaku received the next flat diagonal ball from right wing defender Ashley Young, spun around Edmond Tapsoba and spiked the ball past Lukas Hradecky as he fell (21st).
A single action by Havertz brought Bayer back into the game: The sought-after offensive talent slipped between two opponents, played his way with Kevin Volland in the shooting position with a one-two and shot Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic through the legs (24th). For Havertz it could have been the last appearance in the Bayer jersey, Chelsea FC is interested in signing the 19-year-old. Leverkusen's managing director Rudi Völler recently emphasized that Havertz would definitely not change before leaving the Europa League.
In the second half, Leverkusen then played more pleasantly forward, but the really big chances did not materialize. Handanovic was able to defuse a long-range shot by Kerem Demirbay (61.). Inter came more and more counter-opportunities, Alexis Sánchez missed the best chance of the preliminary decision against a strong parrying Hradecky (66th). A penalty against Leverkusen was withdrawn shortly before the final whistle - Karim Bellarabi had fouled Christian Eriksen, but Barella had previously dropped the ball (90th). Even seven minutes of stoppage time were no longer enough for Bayer to equalize.
Icon: The mirrorcev