Inter 2 - 0 Getafe, match review

When is a game classed as a battle? It’s when you have to fight for every ball, when you know that you’ll be on the receiving end of more fouls than usual, when pressure from the opposition might make you misplace a few more passes. It’s when you know that patience, solidity and conviction will be key if you want to win. A battle: Coach Conte mentioned this on the eve of the match. And he did the same after it too, with Inter having secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

As for the Nerazzurri’s opponents, Getafe turned up in Gelsenkirchen with a reputation for liking to get stuck in having amassed record numbers of fouls and cards. The Spaniards had two more weeks to prepare for the showdown, and they were the better side in the early stages. Bordalás’s team constantly pressed, got their distances right, suffocated the life out of the Nerazzurri and caused problems with penetrating runs. It was a tough start. Nevertheless, Inter stood firm, with two players in particular helping to form an impassable wall: Samir Handanovic, who produced a flawless performance, and Alessandro Bastoni, who made his first European start yesterday evening.

But before analysing individuals, it’s important to underline that the development of the match was very much in line with the Nerazzurri’s playing style out on the pitch. There was a phase where Getafe had the upper hand, but Inter absorbed this pressure well. And then came Lautaro’s bursts forward, changing the momentum in favour of Conte’s men. Those two right-footed efforts lowered Getafe’s confidence, triggering doubts which would then be evident when Lukaku opened the scoring.

We started off by talking about a battle, and the proof is in the statistics. Getafe’s approach forced Inter to get involved in a very high number of duels: 96, in fact. But significantly, 61 of these were won by Nerazzurri players, with Gagliardini and Barella in the thick of the action fighting it out with Bordalás’s warriors in the middle of the park. The Spanish side’s exceptional closing down ability had a predictable consequence: Inter’s pass precision rate was lower than usual, with the Nerazzurri completing just 76.3% of their passes. Nevertheless, this was higher than Getafe’s 71.8%, despite the fact that the Spaniards took more shots: 17 in fact, although just two were on target. Inter were much more precise in this regard: five of the Nerazzurri’s ten shots were on target.

We mentioned Bastoni earlier, with the Italian making his first start in European competition. The 21-year-old produced one of his best performances, excelling both defensively and when Inter came forward. He never struggled at the back, winning the ball back on five occasions and making a brilliant block to stop Getafe from scoring when it was still 0-0. As regards the Nerazzurri’s build-up play, he was the player who had the most touches, 82, while he also completed 59 of his 72 passes, 15 of which came in the opposition half. It was his ball forward which found Lukaku for the opener, the first assist of his career. He would later charge forward and play the ball upfield, a piece of play that provided the impetus for Eriksen’s goal. It crowned a big performance from the Italian youngster.

Lautaro pushing Inter forward, Lukaku scoring his 30th goal of the season, Eriksen netting just moments after coming on. But our Match Review will come to an end by mentioning another name: Barella. He was everywhere on the pitch and almost found the net shortly after the restart. His bursts forward helped to give the Inter defence respite from Getafe’s attacks. He certainly made his mark in the opposition half, with only Godin (22) making more passes in that area of the pitch. A reflection of just how involved he was and the strong and consistent nature of his performance.