Key events
52 min “Fully agree with your comment on Peak Atléti,” writes Edward Ricketts. “A supreme example in the Champions League was the 2016 semi second leg against an excellent Bayern side, losing 2-1 but going through on away goals after the most magnificent, desperate, ugly, thrilling, defiant, organised, shithousing second half defensive display I’ve ever witnessed.”
I remember it well, and not just because I’d backed them.
50 min De Paul gives away to Barella, who moves on to Calhanoglu, but as he shoots, Griezmann nashes back and stops him, sliding in front of the ball to block.
49 min I imagine Atleti will still be relatively circumspect, backing themselves to find a goal without conceding if they are. I think Inter, though, should go at them because if they do they’ll score, whereas they might defend really well and still concede.
48 min Atleti push forward, then Llorente thunders a cross miles away from anywhere, even Selhurst Park.
46 min “It’s not called the Wanda anymore,” chides Harvey Halton. “It’s the Civitas Metropolitano. Just call it the Metropolitano.”
I can’t lie, i was thinking of this at the time, one of those films my parents raved about but refused to let me watch. No, not one of those.
46 min We go again, Atleti needing a goal to force extra time.
Plenty of excitement in the Premier League today,” says Peter Pearson. “Bournemouth just made it 3-3 against Luton with a little under a half hour to go. Goal fest.”
Also, Luton were 3-0 up. They’ve been a lot of fun to watch, and I hope they stay up.
Half-time fun:
In Dortmund, the home side still lead PSV 1-0 on the night, 2-1 on aggregate.
HALF-TIME: Atletico Madrid (1) 1-1 (2) Inter
That warmed up, and I’d expect plenty of tension, petulance, aggression and desperation in what’s to come. Lovely stuff.
44 min In comms, they fancy Atleti, but it’s still huff and puff the way I see it. I think Inter will score again, and I can’t see them conceding twice.
43 min De Paul does really well to run back and win possession he lost, it goes wide to Llorente and into Griezmann coming back from offside and shimmying as he waves feet over ball, desperate not to touch it because he only has centimetres in which to work. Bastoni is foxed too, allowing him to make an angle for a shot as he ducks inside and rolls towards the corner … only for Pavard to stretch a leg with Sommer alreadymoving the other way.
42 min “Would you say Atletico v Inter is more a chess match,” wonders Terry Daley, “or two heavyweights sizing each other up?”
It’s funny how these things become part of the lexicon isn’t it? The only kids’ game it’s alright to use as an example of winning mentality is tiddlywinks, which I find grossly unfair on Stratego, Pishy-Pashy and Guess Whom.
41 min Hermoso misjudges the path of a ball so Barella stabs it away from him; he’s quickly hauled back, and the defender is booked.
38 min “I agree wholeheartedly with your comment on 20 minutes, returns Joe Pearson. “I’m double-screening, and find myself watching much more of Dortmund – PSV. And besides, do Atleti ever play enjoyable matches? They’ll need to even this up to engage their peak house mode, right?”
I really enjoyed peak Atleti – they were a team I found it fun to watch defending a lead or a 0-0. Now, though, without the same quality and youthfulness, the vibe is different – to come over all how do you do fellow kids, they’ve turned painball into sufferball.
36 min Not so. De Vrij’s foot played Morata on, and Pavard tried playing the ball before Griezmann shot. We have ourselves a ball-game.
GOAL! Atletico Madrid (1) 1-1 (2) Inter (Griezmann 35)
NOW THEN! this goal is a fantastic mess, a cross half-cleared to Koke, who lifts hopefully back into the box. Bastoni tries to hook it clear, falls in comedic style, and Griezmann is there to swivel and open body, easing home an expert’s finish. But was Morata offside when the ball came in? Was Griezmann?
GOAL! Atletico Madrid (0) 0-1 (2) Inter (Dimarco 33)
Is this the tie?! Lautaro again comes deep, lays back for Mkhitaryan who moves it Bastoni, keeping the width! He sends Barella away towards the line, Dimarci is shrieking for the cut-back, and when it comes he allows it across his body to punch confidently past Oblak. Long way back from here.
32 min I said earlier Inter have the class advantage, but watching this, it’s very clear that even they don’t have the kind of individuals likely to be definitive in the biggest games against the best opponents. That, of course, means they need a system, which is the genius of Inzaghi.
31 min Atleti keep at it, Mkhitaryan losing control and trying to intimate a foul by De Paul. The ref, though, is having no such thing and when the ball reaches Molina, he looks to bend inside the far top corner, wafting high instead.
28 min Koke drives through midfield then when he gets the ball back, spreads to Hermoso who, taking a leaf out of Inzaghi’s manual as a crossing centre-back, picks out Morata in the middle, about the penalty spot! But the pass is just behind him so, though he gets decent power in his header, having to contort body to get at it denies him the possibility of directing it where Sommer isn’t.
27 min Inter probe. They’re getting their passing going, both out of defence and into midfield. I’ll say it again, but if they make this a test of quality, and they can, they win. If they consent to Atleti’s desired test of fibre, they may still win – but they may also lose.
26 min The cameras at the Wanda are too high. We shouldn’t feel like we’re in the back row of the top tier.
23 min Now Atleti come, Koke, his influence growing, picking a pass into Griezmann who, on the edge, swivels to loop a curler over the top.
22 min Inter are asserting. They play out pleasantly and Martinez holds up well, holding off Savic and laying off for Mkhitaryan – yes, he’s playing, though never has anyone been easier to forget. The elusive Armenian coaxes a lovely ball forward for Dimarco, charging down the left, and there’s a man in the middle … but Witsel does brilliantly to slide in an intercept.
20 min On telly, they’re rhapsodising how entertaining this game is, but I can’t quite see why. Neither side look all that, there’s been very little hint of goalmouth action never mind goalmouth action, and not as much physical menace as I’d hoped for.
18 min What’s that?! Barella caresses a pass forwards to Martinez who fancies an instashot and why not, given the form he’s in. And though he doesn’t catch it right, it takes a deflection that has Oblak scrambling to make sure it stays out.
16 min Calhanoglu plays a clever pass into Martinez, coming off the front, and his clever touch almost sticks Thuram in. You can see Inter have far more class going forward, and my sense is that if they find the confidence to play that way, they’ll win match and tie.
14 min Oh, Moratz! De paul loses it but Llorente wins it high, playing a clever one-two off his man then sending it out wide to Morata, who snaps a fine low cross into the corridor … though no one lurks proximate to it.
13 min Thuram is coming into this and he reaches a loose ball first, a lovely pirouette sending the ball on to Hakan, who sets Dumfries away! But from a position not dissimilar to Molina’s wide inside the box, his low shot is saved by Oblak, who also saves the follow-up from an eve tighter angle.
11 min “Those photos you showed of Stefan Savic,” says Charles Antaki. “Intrigued, they reminded me of something – I think it’s this similar pair…”
10 min Atleti win a throw deep inside the Inter half but the visitors run it away with Thuram, who breaks over halfway but never quite like he knows what’s happening next, unloaded by Savic easily enough
8 min Elsewhere, Jadon Sancho has put Dortmund 1-0 on the night and 2-1 up on aggregate against PSV. He’d actually be a good buy for Atléti if they want to replace Morata, a player guaranteed to ensure Simeone remains on a rolling boil at all time.
7 min Inter have won every game they’ve played this calendar year but they’ve begun in circumspect fashion here, looking to ride out the storm rather than assert. Inzaghi has some innovations, but others things stay the same.
5 min Superb from Molina, running away from Hakan and drawing in De Vrij before gliding past into the box! He can only go across goal so he does, and it’s a pretty decent effort too, but Sommer dives to shove away.
4 min Savic leathers into Martinez’s face from 0.000034 yard away, the ball flicks his hand, and the ref gives handball as he’s prostate on the grass.
3 min Does anyone know what happened to Saúl? When i first saw him he reminded me of Bryan Robson and I can assure you there are few finer accolades and few players about whom I’ve said that. His goal against Bayern is one of the great moments in the last decade of this trophy, but whether because of injury or something else, he’s nowhere near the player he looked set to become.
2 min Simeone looks resplendent in a various hues of jet black and his team are right at Inter, getting the ball into the box on various occasions before Molina curls a cross into the box that Molina can’t quite reach with his heed.
1 min Away we go!
“It’s dispiriting when you see flair players at non-elite teams get their big move only to be made more efficient and effective but a lot less fun,” says Martin McCarthy. “I get genuinely excited about watching Michael Olise and I’m not a Palace supporter, but you know if he goes to City then in 18 months’ he’ll morph into another relentless machine-footballer though.”
I know what you mean – it even happened to Cristiano Ronaldo, who was much more fun when he was a right-winger in 2006-07, and least fun once he went to Madrid and became a relentless accumulator. But it’s also fair to say that City have some players it’s not unentertaining to watch.
The Wanda is jumping. I wonder if its inhabitants truly believe their side has a chance of doing anything in this competition, but for the now they’re into the spirit of things.
And here come our teams!
Talking of Savic…
The fight for Atléti tonight could well be to stop Lautaro Martinez. Even when being outscored by Romelu Lukaku, he was Inter’s key attacker, a prickly bundle of invention and scavenging. Hermoso, Witsel and Savic will have a job finding him.
A while ago now…
So where is the game? Atleti will, I imagine, look to get about the spaces vacated by Bastoni and Pavard, Inter’s playmaking centre-backs, and if they can get Barella out of the road, will fancy themselves to create from midfield. Otherwise, though, they’re hoping for a set-piece or something unusual.
Also for you tonight:
OK, I’m no longer excited. I’m sick of it, mates.
Atlético Madrid fans chanting very openly things about Vinicius Junior. When they did this 18 months ago, the Madrid Prosecutor’s Office decided not to press charges as the racism “while bad” was “only for a few seconds and within the context of football rivalry.” 😳 https://t.co/xYKU2nosZw
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) March 13, 2024
A little something from earlier: I reflected on Arsenal v Porto and the new Champions Leaguer format.
Cole, who I really like as a pundit, is interesting on himself, saying he could go in such a team. When he came through he was meant to be amazing, only to end up at Chelsea under Mourinho where he had some of the flair coached out of him. “I’m a competitor,” he says, “and I wanted to win”, also noting that he not compromised, he’d have a good highlight reel but wouldn’t even be sitting in the studio. He almost says that football wasn’t ready for him yet, then Rio says it for him, explaining that he wasn’t a great athlete and didn’t get the protection afforded others now.
Oh man! On TNT, they’re picking their Unfulfilled FC, talking about Arnautovic initially, then going on to Ledley King, Joe Cole saying he couldn’t train. He would’ve won trophies, but he ended up having to stay at Spurs. Ouch.
Anyone who can breeze Serie A – in 2024! – with Darmian, Mkhitaryan, Sanchez, Arnautovic and Klaassen must know something very significant.
I really enjoyed this, on Simone and Inter, by Nicky Bandini earlier this week.
Email! “Enjoyed your riff on ‘unfathomable’,” writes Joe Pearson, “but this word nerd might suggest ‘ineffable’ and ‘ineffability’ to resolve your pretend conundrum. Make sure you give us a good playlist to soundtrack the match!”
OK, you’ve twisted my arm. – I thought you’d never ask! I’m enjoying Kweku Smoke’s new album and also Tony Montana by Skepta, Portable and JAE5.
As for Inter, Inzaghi goes for De Vrij and Dumfires ahead of Acerbi and Darmian. Otherwise, they’re as expected, and unlike their opponents, there’s a sense that they’re coming to a boil.
So what does it all mean? Well Atleti’s two doubts, Morata and Griezmann, make it, but there’s is not a side that inspires hence last weekend’s defeat to Cádiz and three wins in their last 10 games. I was hoping we’d see Arthur Vermeeren tonight, but I knewwe wouldn’t.
Teams!
Atlético Madrid (5-3-2): Savic, Witsel, Hermoso; Molina, Llorente, Koke, De Paul, Lino; Morata, Griezmann. Subs: Moldovan, Gomis, Azpilicueta, Gabriel, Saúl, Depay, Correa, Riquelme, Vermeeren, Reinildo, Barrios.
Inter (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Çalhanoğlu, Mkitaryan, DiMarco; Thuram, Lautaro Martinez. Subs: Di Gennaro, Audero, Klaassen, Frattesi, Buchana, Asllani, Bisseck, Darmian, Sarr, Stankovic, Sánchez.
Preamble
Football is demanding. We didn’t always know it, thanks largely to its HARD MEN and LEADERS OF MEN, able to effortlessly conceal their feelings from everyone, including themselves. Nowadays, though, our enlightened selves are entirely unsurprised when a manager turns it in citing the pressure of a job whose stresses are fathomable only in their unfathomableness unfathomability inability to be fathomed.
All of which makes Diego Simeone even more a marvel of psychological engineering than we previously discerned, his smouldering, explosive fury somehow nourishing and invigorating, rather than exhausting and tormenting. On the one hand, people love to be loved and perform best when relaxed; on the other, fancy returning to his dressing room having served up a 2/10?
In the entirety of football history, rarely has a side so embodied its manager as Cholo’s Atléti … but they’re not what they were and tonight, they meet Simone Inzaghi’s Inter, in a sense the them of a few years ago. They are not as confrontational, it’s true – though who is? – but they are a traditional power reasserting on a budget and in a manner that only their manager can commandeer, players turning up at apparent random all over the show, to end up exactly where they need to be. They may not be the best side around, but they’re a confident, settled and bloody good one capable of beating anyone on a good day.
And though they lead this tie 1-0, their advantage far less significant now that every goal is deemed equivalent to every other goal. This is going to be intense.
Kick-off: 9pm local, 8pm GMT
