The good news for Internazionale is that they showed grit and determination in hanging on for a 2-2 home draw with Bayern Munich to advance to the UEFA Champions League semifinals, winning 4-3 on aggregate.
The bad news for Inter is that they had to show grit and determination in hanging on for a 2-2 home draw with Bayern to advance to the Champions League semifinals, and that they only won 4-3 on aggregate.
Once he’s done celebrating and reviewing the game tape — probably the minute he gets home — manager Simone Inzaghi will realize this, and he’ll want to fix it. Partly because Inter are too good a side to let their game plan go out the window late in games. Also, partly because sitting and defending while the opponent is throwing the kitchen sink at you doesn’t make a great game plan for most teams, let alone this Inter side.
When Benjamin Pavard popped up to give Inter a 2-1 lead just after the hour mark, they were two goals to the good on aggregate. At home, against a side missing Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies (among others), the task was straightforward: keep the ball, absorb pressure, maybe score a third if you can, and put the tie to bed.
Instead, from the moment Pavard scored until the end of the game, the shot count was eight to two, and the xG (expected goals) was 0.58 to 0.10, in Bayern’s favor. Sure, it was cold and windy, with rain was driving down on the San Siro, for most of the second half. But it was just as cold, windy and rainy for Bayern too. And if any conditions like that are a reason not to camp out in your own box and let the weather become the opposition’s 12th man, then a gust of wind, greasy ball or bad bounce become that much more of a threat when the ball is in your own box.
The lesson should have come from Eric Dier‘s equalizer with 15 minutes to go, but it didn’t. Inter got sucked further and further back as manager Vincent Kompany emptied the Bayern bench, sending on more and more attacking players.
The simple truth: Inter showed them too much respect. What had been a side playing with confidence and tactical nous — by trusting the Inzaghi process — turned into an underdog holding on for dear life. That shouldn’t be happening. Not when you’re Inter and you’re making your second trip to the Champions League semifinals in three years, while also facing a Bayern side in a transition season, decimated by injuries and led by a guy whom few seem to believe in.
There is that feeling of mitigating factors and counterarguments, and a lot of them. Bayern had nothing to lose at that stage and brought the house, but it’s never straightforward to play against an opponent who does that. Mehdi Taremi was brought on to hold the ball up and give Inter a breather, but he had only recently returned from injury and struggled to have an impact. Alessandro Bastoni was clearly struggling with injury until he came off two minutes from time.
Ultimately, Inter are an older team — both on the pitch and the bench — so, better to let them sit deeper and defend once they tire. But that doesn’t change the facts. Sure, Bayern are a footballing giant and they’ll likely win the Bundesliga again. However, the depleted version of Bayern we saw over the two legs are not better than Inter. And that’s who they were playing, not Bayern’s reputation.
The frustrating thing is that — other than Harry Kane‘s goal, when Federico Dimarco gave him too much space — Inter had pretty much blunted Bayern’s threat. Their confidence had grown in that way, after going a goal down, when they hit them with a one-two punch within a few minutes.
That was the moment to go for the jugular. Instead, the fear crept in, though Inter still advanced and deservedly so. They remain an exceptionally coached team, one that has managed to trim the wage bill (theirs is the lowest of the four semifinalists, by some margin) and not just stay competitive, but become one of the best sides in Europe.
Folks point to their defensive solidity — they have conceded just six goals in this Champions League season — and the fact that throughout this competition, they’ve trailed for just over 10 minutes, which is remarkable. Those are impressive numbers, but not the sort that come from camping out in your penalty area, which is what they ended up doing on Wednesday night.
A bit more self-belief would be helpful here, especially in the upcoming semifinal tie against Barcelona. Should they take the lead against Hansi Flick’s men, attacking their high defensive line with numbers and conviction, it will be a better game plan than erecting a barricade in front of Yann Sommer.
Because it’s one thing doing it against Leroy Sané, Michael Olise, and an off-form Kane, quite another holding out against Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, and Robert Lewandowski.
