The Catalans’ exit didn’t go unnoticed by Magnus Carlsen. The Norwegian chess star, who kicked off in December 2014 at the Santiago Bernabéu ahead of favorites Real Madrid’s home game against Celta, tweeted the following during the break:
– It’s good that the Inter game is not equal, so I can focus on chess and Barcelona in the Europa League.
The Catalans depended on Inter’s stumbles and lost points at home to Viktoria Plzen to have any hope of advancing ahead of the final group stage.
However, there was little help from the Czech side, and two goals from Edin Dzeko and one each from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Romelu Lukaku mean Barcelona only have the honor of playing when they host Bayern Munich in a big showdown later. Wednesday.
It is the second season in a row that the great Spanish club have to say goodbye to the Champions League already in the group stage. Last season, it was Portuguese Benfica who, together with Bayern Munich, expelled Barcelona from the Champions League. Back then, it was the first time in 21 years that the Catalans qualified for the group stage of Europe’s most prestigious club tournament.
One way to Milan
Inter created several great chances in the first half hour, but a strong Viktoria Plzen keeper prevented Milan from scoring. After 35 minutes, however, the Italians were given a cheer when Mkhitaryan scored with a 1-0 header after a cross cross.
Minutes from the break, Bosnian Dzeko had the easy task of adding to make it 2-0, and Inter had promotion deep in their pockets by the 45th minute.
Lukaku scores in the return
During the second half, the home side continued to produce great scoring chances, and Mkhitaryan and Lautaro Martínez each had the chance to increase their lead during the first quarter after the break.
With 25 minutes left on the clock, Dzeko scored a controlled 3-0 after a pass from Martínez.
Towards the end of the game, home fans were able to see Romelu Lukaku in action for the first time since late August. The Belgian started his Inter return well, but the power forward struggled for a long time with an injury which kept him out of action for two months.
Four minutes from regulation time, the Belgian scored the fourth and final goal of the game.
I got up after a tough league opener
Inter started the Champions League fall losing 0-2 at home to Bayern Munich, before wins over Viktoria Plzen and Barcelona put the team in good stead halfway through the phase. of groups. In the previous round, Inter took a point from Catalonia, so it was all in the hands of the Milanese club ahead of the fifth round of the group stage.
Also last season, Inter qualified for the Champions League play-offs, but already in the round of 16 there was a stoppage in the double encounter with Liverpool. In the 2020/2021 season, Inter finished last in their group and were eliminated. The previous season, the Italians finished bottom of their group in the Champions League.
In the domestic series, Inter have varied in their performance so far this season. The result of eleven games is seven wins and four losses, and the league champion of the 2020/2021 season is in 7th place in the table. To league leaders Napoli, the distance is eight points.
