He shut out Benfica’s house and Inter made a fourth-place jump

Determined to take the… suitcase away is the Inter. The Nerazzurri shut out all-tournament greats Benfica with two second-half goals from Barrel and Lukaku they took a clear lead in qualifying for the semi-finals of the Champions League (0-2).

Just the second victory of the Milanese in Portugal in 11 matches that they have set their sights on to make the “colpo grosso” and enter… a wedge in the claim of the cup.

At April 19 the rematch at “Giuseppe Meatsa” where Odysseus Vlachodemos and his company will need a miracle to steal qualification.

The match

The first half was divided as both teams did not want to take any chances. The first to threaten the opponent’s goal was Benfica in the 16th minute. Uploading it Grimaldo from the left, a cross into the area where Dimarco clumsily cleared, the ball reached the Rafa Silva who was caught in the traffic, but found him Onana in readiness. Three minutes later, Roger Schmidt’s team found themselves in the spotlight again. Another cross from Grimaldo aimed at him Gonzalo Ramosthe Brazilian brought the ball down, laid it to Joao Mario, but the captain’s shot from a diagonal position went wide.

Inter took the opportunity to respond to the home team’s chances in the 25th minute with Acerbi to take steps on the field and shoot, but his effort went over the crossbar of Vlachodimos. The “neratzuri” tried again to create dangerous conditions in front of the home of the Greek goalkeeper with Jacko not having time in the 39th minute to put his head in and send the ball towards the goal with the half ending goalless.

In the replay, the Nerazzurri, despite being threatened in the first four minutes by the home team, managed to take the lead and freeze Da Luz. Bastoni raced up from the Inter defence, crossed into the area, where Barela caught a terrific backhand header and sent the ball deep into the Vlachodimos net for 0-1.

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From that point on, the Nerazzurri, with Inzaghi’s recipe, “froze” the pace and completely controlled the match, at a time when Benfica was mainly trying to create some dangerous moments with Joao Mario’s initiatives. The Inter coach changed the attacking line by throwing Lukaku and Correa into the match instead of Dzeko and Lautaro.

In the 66th minute, Inter in a counter-attack for a seminar came close to 0-2 but Mkhitarian fell upon the terrible Wall construction which kept the 0-1. Twelve minutes later the visitors again threatened in transition in a carbon phase with their first goal. Bastoni’s cross into the heart of the Portuguese defence, Dumfries’ header, but this time Vlahodemos blocked the way.

However, in this particular phase, the Nerazzurri won an unexpected penalty as at the beginning of the attack, the Joao Mario found the ball with his hand and Michael Oliver after a VAR check showed the white arrow.

Lukaku took over the execution by doing so 0-2 and effectively ending from the first match the qualification of Inter which will go to “Giuseppe Meazza” on April 19 to finish the job.

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MVP: Inter’s entire blocking might have been flawless, but Alessandro Bastoni’s tackles and assists were far and away decisive. The young stopper of the Nerazzurri once again brought calmness to the defense, he had many moments when he put a stop to the hosts’ advances, while he is credited with the assist on Barela’s goal in the 51st minute and also the initial filling in the phase when Inter won the penalty in the 80′ and Lukaku converted into a goal.

The elevens:

Benfica (Roger Schmidt): Vlahodemos, Grimaldo, Morato, Antonio Silva, Gilberto, Florentino Luiz (64′ David Neres), Ciquinho, Joao Mario, Oursnes, Rafa Silva, Gonzalo Ramos.

Inter (Simone Inzaghi): Onana, Bastoni (90′ De Bruyne), Acerbi, Darmian, Dimarco (63′ Goossens), Dumfries (87′ D’Ambrosio), Brozovic, Barela, Mkhitaryan, Lautaro (63′ Joaquin Correa), Dzeko (63′ Lukaku) .