February** Dynamic Incentive Program
As last season's Champions League runners-up, Inter Milan did not perform well in the group stage of this season's Champions League, only to qualify as group runners-up, and met La Liga giants Atletico Madrid in the first round of the knockout round, which is also one of the most watched matchups by fans. In midweek, the first leg of the Champions League 1 8 final continues, with Inter sitting at home, waiting for the Sheets to come to the door. Lautaro missed opportunities many times in this game, and Arnau also vomited cakes many times, but he completed a quasi-stunner in 79 minutes, and Inter had the last laugh 1-0, ushering in nine consecutive wins in all competitions.
Sitting at the Meaza Stadium, Inzaghi Jr. put on his usual 3-5-2 formation, with the in-form Sommer guarding the goal, Pavard, De Vrij and Bastoni at the back, Darmian and Dimarco on the wings in midfield, Barella, Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan in the middle, and Lautaro and Thuram Jr.
Simeone set up a 5-4-1 formation, with Oblak in goal, a back five of Lino, Hermoso, Jimenez, Witsel and Molina, Saul and Marcos Llorente in midfield, Koke and De Paul in the back, and Antoine Griezmann up front.
Strong dialogue, both sides are relatively conservative, and the pace of the game is not fast. In the 11th minute, Lino took the ball on the left side of the penalty area and cut inside to shoot into the far corner, but it grazed the post and went out of bounds. In the 13th minute, Barella picked up a cross into the penalty area, Thuram Jr. unsuccessfully, Lautaro inserted a volley and hit Molina's arm, who was suspected of opening his arms again, but the referee refused to award a penalty, causing dissatisfaction among the Inter generals.
In the 33rd minute, Inter played a quick counter-attack, Thuram Jr. headed back, and Lautaro followed up to meet the ball and shot high. In the 36th minute, Barella crossed from the right, Lautaro nodded the ball in front of the goal, and Oblak saved the ball. Two minutes later, Thuram Jr. split the ball after a steal in front, and it was Lautaro's follow-up shot that was blocked by Jimenez's outstretched leg, and the two teams returned to the dressing room with a 0-0 scoreline.
Yibian suffered a blow to Inter Milan again, Thuram Jr. was suspected to be replaced due to injury, and Arnautovic came on as a substitute. In the 47th minute, Lautaro took the ball on the right side of the penalty area, and his volley from a small angle was still blocked, and Inzaghi Jr. looked very unhappy. In the 49th minute, Inter had a great chance when Dimarco sent in a precise cross from the left, and Arnautovic flew in front of the goal to tackle the ball from close range.
In the 63rd minute, Lautaro scored with his back to the edge of the penalty area, Witsel intercepted a mistake, Arnautovic had another good chance to score, and the volley in front of the goal grazed the crossbar and went out of bounds. In the 74th minute, Dumfries crossed from the right side, Arnautovic grabbed the point in front of the goal and kicked it into the air, scoring a hat trick of missing the goal!
However, 5 minutes later, there was a low-level mistake in the Atletico backline, Lautaro took the ball and strode into the penalty area, the one-knife push was resolved by Oblak, Arnautovic hit the shot from a small angle, and the Nerazzurri finally broke the deadlock, 1-0!
In the 87th minute, Angel Correa broke through and crossed from the left, Morata pressed De Vrij and shook his head to shoot wide, unable to complete the equalizer. In the end, Inter had the last laugh 1-0, winning nine in a row in all competitions and taking the lead in the two-legged duel, while Atletico Madrid hung by a thread and returned to Calderón in the second leg, where they only needed a win to keep their hopes of promotion alive.