(Football news) Inter Milan won the away leg of their Champions League semi final against AC Milan 2-0. Milan derbies in the Champions League are always feisty and this one was no exception. Rafael Leao’s injury didn’t heal in time as he wasn’t even on the bench. Olivier Giroud started up front with Brahim Diaz, Alexis Saelemaekers and Ismael Bennacer behind the striker. Bannacer only lasted 18 minutes as he was replaced by Junior Messias after an Injury. Inter on the other hand left Romelu Lukaku and Marcelo Brozovic on the bench. Edin Dzeko continued to partner Lautaro Martinez up front while there was a midfield trio of Nicola Barella, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu.
Inter opened the scoring in the 8th minute as Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner was volleyed by Edin Dzeko. Davide Calabria was marking Dzeko but he wasn’t tight enough. Three minutes later Federico Dimarco put Henrikh Mkhitaryan through on goal and the midfielder doubled Inter’s lead.
In the 31st minute Lautaro Martinez went down in the box and the referee pointed to the spot, however after a VAR check the penalty was disallowed. It was a start that no one expected because even though it is the same stadium Inter were the away team as there were more AC Milan fans in the stadium. The Nerazzurri started to play a little more defensively. AC Milan just couldn’t find a way to break into the final third as they didn’t have pacey players to run in behind.
Olivier Giroud didn’t get enough service in the box to make any sort of impact. Milan started to play better when Divock Origi came on but they still couldn’t score. Milan now have a very difficult task in the 2nd leg where Inter fans will be very loud. Rafael Leao’s return will be crucial and if he doesn’t make it in time then Milan may not even get close to a comeback. Divock Origi has certainly made a case for himself to start in the return leg with a decent cameo tonight. Inter host Sassuolo on the weekend while AC Milan play away from home against Spezia.
Also read: Real Madrid and Manchester City draw 1-1 in entertaining 1st leg
