Inter probably hoped for a more comfortable away match, but even against Young Boys, the most important thing came: the victory and the 3 points. In Bern, Thuram resolved a complicated game in injury time, allowing the black-and-blues to continue their journey in the Champions League in the best possible way.
There are, in general, some curiosities about Inter that perhaps not everyone has noticed, within a match marked by Arnautovic’s penalty mistake and another muscle injury, this time to Carlos Augusto. Here are six:
1 The first element, which was widely discussed before the game, was the synthetic pitch at Wankdorf Stadium. And it was indeed a factor: many, above all De Vrij in the post-match, confirmed that the ball was bouncing unpredictably, travelling at a higher speed than usual. The muscular effort, therefore, was greater and this favoured Young Boys, who are more used to and capable of reading trajectories much better and of always being ahead in interpreting positions. Plus, there is the risk factor of injuries, highlighted by Marotta in the pre-match, with Carlos Augusto’s knock confirming the eve’s fears.
2 The game plan of the Young Boys also made the match more challenging. The Swiss studied Inter very well, changing the team shape and often defending with five to avoid numerical inferiority in defensive duels and in changing fields. Their high press, then, put Inter’s ball circulation in difficulty, which took little advantage of the splitting in two of the Swiss team.
3 The first half was difficult, as confirmed by everyone in the post-match. After 26 minutes Young Boys had shot 9 times, against Inter’s 0. At the end of the game, however, the statistics show 20 to 19 for the home team, with xGs of 0.92 to Inter’s 3.27, of which 2.8 were accumulated by Inter in the second half. The data is clear: a lot of smoke and mirrors for the Swiss, but the real chances were all from Inter.
4 Barella is not a playmaker and he made several mistakes yesterday. However, it’s not automatic that the problem in setting up play was Calhanoglu’s absence with Barella in his place. The absences of Bastoni and Dimarco were also critical. Depriving oneself of too many sources of play all at once is something Inter currently struggles with.
5 With Roma, the substitutes were the best, and in Bern it was the same thing. Inzaghi highlighted this, sidestepping the debate about the need for starters to come on to win in the Champions League and specifying how Inter needs the contribution of everyone in every game.
6 Finally, a significant note on the environment: at the moment of Thuram’s goal, Inzaghi ran to console Arnautovic for the missed penalty. The coach explained after the match that the Austrian was the penalty taker along with Taremi and that the mistake doesn’t change what he is doing well. Words of a true leader from the Inter coach.
