Real Madrid vs. Inter 3 - 2, match review

Come back from Madrid and recollect. Think back to Barella's back heel and Lautaro's goal following Perisic's bull's-eye finish on a counterattack. These were all pieces of beautiful Inter football, which showed a resilience, an ability to keep our heads up and a desire to pull ourselves back into the match. Then think back to the fatal back pass, the poor marking, the wrong defensive manoeuvres. To add insult to injury, you find yourself coming away with zero points in the bag and mixed feelings: pride for our efforts during the game but regret for how it ended.

These are the two faces of an Inter team that stays true to its foundations; the certainty to never give up and the desire to play precise and refined football. Inter showed desire to build up play from deep and manage Real Madrid’s high pressure, which was enabled by the dynamic movement of their two forwards and an ability to prove clinical in attack with support from their midfielders.

Inter conceded three goals which could have potentially been avoided: Hakimi's back pass (who was in fact was pushed by Mendy), Ramos' header from an in-sweeping corner and Rodrygo's goal which was finished with surgical precision on a counterattack. Both Handanovic and Lautaro, in addition to our Coach, talked about the game post-match, underlining how the smallest details can decide the result. Real, crafty and expert, sealed the fate of the game with Vinicius and Rodrygo proving electric in attack. Inter managed to find the back of the net twice, with Lautaro and Perisic's finishes beating a helpless Courtois.

The statistics of the match, including the number of shots on either side, speak of a balanced encounter, with both teams having twelve shots but Real being more accurate. They had seven shots on target compared to the Nerazzurri’s three, who were without Romelu Lukaku. Inter backed up Perisic and Lautaro in attack with support from Hakimi and Barella, who proved to be very light-footed and mobile. The Moroccan’s average position was very high up the pitch, level with Lautaro and ahead of Perisic, while Barella was the fourth most advanced Nerazzurri player. Lautaro’s movement was particularly good, simultaneously negotiating a duel with Ramos. He burst ahead of Varane to make the score 2-1, assisted the equalising goal and nearly found the net for the third: he had three shots, four chances created and won the ball back four times. He made the most of a brilliant back heel assist from Barella, who won possession back seven times, provided a delicate and spectacular assist and was involved in Inter’s first goal.

Perisic was quick in attack and used his precise left foot to find the net in the Champions League game. The other Croatian, Brozovic, played a deep and impressive game: 71 passes, 61 of which were successful, four crosses and a lot of intensity.

There were plenty of positives on view in the game, however, they were not enough to ensure a positive result. The brilliant play at times from Inter gives us hope in matches moving forward.