A decent first half and a troubled second half, much more than the goal scored by Mukiele and conceded at the last minute: here are the explanations for the first defeat in this edition of the Champions LeagueInter in Germany. The Nerazzurri were knocked out by the BayArena, defeated with a 1-0 result Bayer Leverkusen who, by virtue of goal difference, surpass the Italian champions in the updated ranking of the competition.
Many understated Nerazzurri players. More than Wirtz’s class, it is the pragmatism of Mukiele himself or Palacios that highlights the evening of Aspirins by Xabi Alonso. There were many 5s on the report card in the ranks of Inzaghi’s team: the defeat came at the last minute and narrowly, but it was far from undeserved.
The words of the two coaches. “We should have done more”, is the mantra of Inzaghi himself, who in the press conference acknowledged an evening far from the standards of his team: “We had some difficulties against a team of absolute value, we should have done more even if in the second half we didn’t there were signs. But this result does not affect the progress made so far, qualification will be in our hands in the last two days”, says the Nerazzurri coach, who announces the absences of Acerbi and Pavard against Lazio. Xabi Alonso inevitably expresses satisfaction: “We are very satisfied with this victory against a great team, we played in a very mature manner and were in control. We didn’t expect to have twenty chances against Inter, but few and to be exploited. I think we deserved to win.”
The updated ranking.
1. Liverpool 18 (dr +12)*
2. Leverkusen 13 (dr +7)*
3. Aston Villa 13 (dr +6)*
4. Inter 13 (dr +6)*
5. Brest 13 (dr +4)*
6. Barcelona 12 (dr +13)
7. Dortmund 12 (dr +10)
8. Bayern 12 (dr +9)*
9. Atalanta 11 (dr +9)*
10. Arsenal 10 (dr +6)
11. Monaco 10 (dr +5)
12. Sporting 10 (dr +2)
13. Lilac 10 (dr +2)
14. Club Brugge 10 (dr -2)*
15. Benfica 9 (dr +3)
16. Atl. Madrid 9 (dr +2)
17. Milan 9 (dr +2)
18. Real Madrid 9 (dr -1)*
19. Celtic 9 (dr 0)*
20. Manchester City 8 (dr +6)
21. PSV 8 (r +2)*
22. Juventus 8 (dr +2)
23. Dyn. Zagreb 8 (dr -5)*
24. PSG 7 (dr 0)*
25. Feyenoord 7 (dr -3)
26. Stuttgart 4 (dr -7)
27. Shakhtar 4 (dr -8)*
28. Sparta Prague 4 (dr -9)
29. Sturm Graz 3 (dr -4)
30. Girona 3 (dr -6)*
31. Stella Rossa 3 (dr -8)
32. Salzburg 3 (dr -15)*
33. Bologna 1 (dr -6)
34. RB Leipzig 0 (dr -7)*
35. Slovan Bratislava 0 (dr -14)
36. Young Boys 0 (dr -15)
• one more game
The results for Tuesday 10 December
Dinamo Zagreb-Celtic 0-0
Girona-Liverpool 0-1
Atalanta-Real Madrid 2-3
Bayer Leverkusen-Inter 1-0
Club Brugge-Sporting 2-1
Leipzig-Aston Villa 2-3
Salzburg-Paris Saint-Germain 0-3
Shakhtar Donetsk-Bayern Munich 1-5
Brest-PSV Eindhoven 1-0
The program for Wednesday 11 December
18:45 Atletico Madrid-Slovan Bratislava
6.45pm Lille-Sturm Graz
9.00pm Arsenal-Monaco
9.00pm Benfica-Bologna
9.00pm Borussia Dortmund-Barcelona
9.00pm Feyenoord Rotterdam-Sparta Prague
9.00pm Juventus-Manchester City
9.00pm Milan-Stella Rossa
9.00pm Stuttgart-Young Boys