https://theathletic.com/4507368/2023/05/10/milan-0-2-inter-result-champions-league/




Inter beat Milan 2-0 in one of the most one-sided Champions League semi-finals in recent memory.

In a first half that left Milan shell-shocked, Inter dominated from start to finish. An expertly guided volley from Edin Dzeko opened the scoring in the eighth minute, swiftly followed by a sucker-punch second from Henrikh Mkhitaryan just three minutes later.

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Things could have been even worse for Milan but for the intervention of the VAR to overturn a penalty awarded to Inter after a foul from Simon Kjaer on Lauaturo Martinez.

The second half wasn’t quite as intense, with neither side managing to score.

Seb Stafford-Bloor, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme analyse the key talking points…

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Milan should have played a back three
“We know what derbies are, we’ve played seven in 20 months,” said Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi pre-match, “We’ve won or lost; they’re derbies that can give us important ideas. At the same time, we know that each match is unique.”

Inter might have learnt from their three meetings against Milan this season, but Stefano Pioli’s side had not. Overlooking the absence of Rafael Leao, it was surprising to see Milan stick with the 4-2-3-1.



They had matched up Tottenham (3-4-2-1) and Napoli (4-3-3) in the last two rounds, conceding just once in those four games, and tweaked to a 3-5-2 when Inter won 1-0 in February. That was shortly after being embarrassed 3-0 in the Supercoppa in Riyadh, where they played a 4-2-3-1 and were picked apart in an almost identical first half.

Inter adjusted to press Milan’s back four and double pivot with a 3-1-4-2, pushing both wing-backs high. With the ball, left wing-back Federico Dimarco kept overloading Milan’s back four, notably in the build-up to the second goal.

Dzeko and Lautaro competed excellently against Fikayo Tomori and Kjaer, who would have benefitted from an additional centre-back for support.

Milan’s midfield three man-marked Inter’s three central midfielders tightly, but rather than play through, Inter dragged Milan’s midfield wide to open passing lanes straight to Dzeko and Lautaro, or found wide combinations where Milan were outnumbered.

Liam Tharme

Dzeko’s experience shines
Ten years ago, the quickening pace of the game suggested that the days of the wily, veteran forward were numbered. Not so. In fact, is there a more precious commodity to a certain type of team?

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Even before his goal, Dzeko took a 60-yard diagonal on the chest and bought a cheap free-kick inside the Milan half. A minor moment, maybe, but a sly bit of play that helped Inter gather some early momentum and find their footing.

And the goal? Well. That was the work of a player who knows how to manoeuvre his marker, understands how to keep him off-balance, and is so assured of his technique that he can worry about all of that while executing a ludicrously difficult roundhouse volley to absolute perfection.



It’s interesting, though, because as the game has become quicker — more immediate, more literal — the easier it has become to appreciate the method within the chaos. For instance, while Mkhitaryan may have scored the second goal and certainly timed his run into that yawning gap to perfection, it was Dzeko’s movement that helped create that chasm, his dash to the near-post parting the Milan centre-backs.

It was so knowing and wise. There are times when you watch forwards like him and you wonder whether they might just play on forever, always enjoying these incalculable little advantages.

Seb Stafford-Bloor

Inzaghi, and Inter, are at it again
Inzaghi absolutely loves cup competitions — there are certain clubs around Europe that ought to be looking at him.

As a player at Lazio, he only won the Scudetto once (1999-2000) but was a three-time winner of the Coppa Italia (1999-2000, 2003-04 and 2008-09), twice lifted the Supercoppa (2000 and 2009) and won the UEFA Super Cup (1999) too.



His Inter side are developing quite the reputation for being a cup side. They beat Milan 3-0 in January to secure the Supercoppa, a trophy they won last season as well, having also secured the Italian Cup. Admittedly, their final-day second-place finish to Milan in Serie A clouded those titles somewhat, but their first-half performance this evening at the San Siro — technically the away side — was as effective as they come in knockout football.

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A compact block defensively, dropping into a flat back five (from which they transitioned at lightning speed), Inter were threatening at set pieces and adjusted their shape to build out and press Milan’s 4-2-3-1. Their ceiling is not ridiculously high — Inter have won 20 and lost 11 of their 34 league games — but they have a higher floor than most teams. There are few (if any) glaring weaknesses.


They give up chances of low quality and can score a variety of different goals from varied methods of attack — and from numerous players. Hakan Calhanoglu is Inter’s fifth player with multiple Champions League goals this season.

Liam Tharme

Milan’s key strength is nullified
Even a pessimistic Milan fan wouldn’t have quite envisaged how badly Pioli’s side were going to start the game.

In the opening 18 minutes, Inter had already had five shots on goal — the same amount they had in the whole of their 1-0 win over Barcelona during the group stage of this season’s Champions League.

It is never easy for any team to chase a tie from a losing position, but this will be particularly difficult for a Milan side that thrives off counter-attacking play.

Before tonight, Milan’s 42 direct attacks — a possession that starts in a team’s defensive half and ends with a shot or touch inside the opposition box within 15 seconds — in this season’s Champions League was more than any of the semi-finalists in the competition.

However, they need the space to exploit in order to implement this — and an organised 3-5-2 block from Inter was unlikely to ever afford them that space. In the first leg, they didn’t manage a single direct attack against their city rivals.

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Sure, it doesn’t help that the bulldozing Leao was not fit enough to play and drive Milan upfield, but Inter have given themselves the advantage in the tie and nullified one of Milan’s greatest strengths in the process.

Mark Carey

A throwback two-man striker pairing
If you’re older than 30, centre-forwards are supposed to come in pairs. Except they don’t really any more, after that second forward was offered up to the gods of possession and defensive control.

So what a joy Dzeko and Lautaro are: a renaissance combination, who have been excellent this season under Inzaghi, but who Milan unfortunately found in perfect harmony.

My colleague Liam Thame made the point during the game that they don’t really contrast with one another. He’s right. They’re not Michael Owen and Emile Heskey or Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright. Rather, they complement each other in the sense that they mirror one another’s abilities: they overlap.


Dzeko celebrates with Lautaro (Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
Martinez was asked about the partnership before the game, and he perfectly described what makes it so difficult to defend against.

“With Edin, we keep a close eye on each other and adjust depending on the situation. I am learning a lot from both of them (Dzeko and Lukaku).”

In other words, the roles are fluid. It showed in the most recent Milan derby, which Inter won 1-0 with a close-range header from a set-piece. You’d assume Dzeko scored, but it was Martinez — and that characterises how difficult it must be to play against them. They can both finish, create and move. It makes them a nightmare for defenders.

Dzeko’s contribution to the first two goals has been covered, but watch Martinez as the move for the second builds. When Dimarco cuts the ball back across the box and the Bosnian is heading for the near-post to drag the defenders away, Martinez is actually watching him rather than the ball. He was aware enough to know that Mkhitaryan was well-positioned behind him, but quick enough to process the disruption that Dzeko was causing and also smart enough to capitalise upon it with a little feint.

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This was billed as the also-ran semi-final; the afterparty for anyone not left satisfied by Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Well, not on that advance. It was throwback football, in a way — a callback to a different era — but it was a play that absolutely belonged to a Champions League semi-final.

Seb Stafford-Bloor

An atmosphere to suit the occasion
Play the Champions League music and then crank Brian Moore up to 11. That’s what nights like this are supposed to look and sound like.

Different clubs have different relationships with UEFA. Fine, each to their own conspiracy theory.


Milan supporters’ tifo ahead of the game (Photo: Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
But without passing judgement on the politicised nature of the Champions League and what its future may be, the obvious reverence for it here — for what the European Cup has always meant — was a welcome change of mood. The galaxy of stars at pitchside and the reminder of this rivalry’s many yesterdays just added more gravity to an occasion which only seemed to swell as kick-off approached.

When you talk to professional players and ask them what it’s like to play in the most raucous grounds, they usually say that either all the atmosphere gets lost in their periphery or that it’s so loud that they can’t even communicate with their teammates on the pitch. This looked like it was both. The pitch would have been framed by a great blur of colour and noise. Being on it, however, must have been like playing within a soundwave.


(Photo: Piero Cruciatti/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
That’s football, right? That’s where you imagine yourself as a child when you dream of playing the game: scoring goals when it matters, but always in stadiums being ripped from their own roots.

To reclaim a cliche, what an occasion.

Seb Stafford-Bloor

Should Origi deputise for Leao in the second leg?
The loss of Leao to injury was a big one for Milan. No one at the club has notched more goal contributions in all competitions than the Portuguese’s 24 in all competitions.

For the neutral observer as well as Milan fans, many will be hoping that Leao can recover and make a return for the second leg on Tuesday. If he can’t, might there be a case to bring Divock Origi out from the shadows for his favourite competition?

Alexis Saelemaekers deputised well on Milan’s left flank in Leao’s absence before Origi’s substitute appearance showed glimpses of promise, with his direct and powerful runs that drove his side forward with purpose. While he has struggled for fitness and form since his move from Liverpool, Origi does remain one of Milan’s most clinical finishers in the squad when given half a chance.

Of course, we need little reminder of the Belgian’s record in the Champions League, with his victory-sealing strike against Tottenham Hotspur in the 2019 final supplementing that semi-final at Anfield against Barcelona.

Milan need goals in the second leg and, given how Inter dominated the first leg, they might need someone to create something out of nothing. If not Leao, could Origi be the one to provide them?

Mark Carey