Yesterday evening’s victory over Sparta Prague may not have been Inter’s most brilliant of the season, but the needed three points arrived at the final whistle of the Champions League match. To delve deeper into the key points of the match won thanks to the gem by Lautaro Martinez, we propose 7 things that may have gone unnoticed in Sparta Prague-Inter.
1 Lautaro’s wound. At the end of the match, his right leg bore a deep wound noticeable in the photo where he held his MVP award for the match, the result of a violent tackle he had suffered from Ismajli in the last championship round against Empoli. An iconic image that fired up the Nerazzurri fans, who went wild in the comments under the post shared by the Inter club.
2 The origin of Lautaro’s goal. The most beautiful and complex part of the action that led to Inter’s goal was undoubtedly the Argentinean’s feat at mid-air who managed to score with very little angle available. It should be noted that it all started with an aggressive recovery and high-ball win, showing that even Inter can have this kind of attitude depending on the game.
3 Pavard’s movement was very interesting, especially in the first half when he launched himself into the penalty area behind Dumfries to create a superiority against Sparta Prague’s five-man line. Another interesting point was about Thuram who frequently pulled the defender out of the penalty area to create space for Lautaro Martinez’s movement.
4 Even though Inter, with eight goals to their credit, ranks only 19th in the Champions League’s scoring chart, Sommer and his colleagues have confirmed they have the best defense throughout the Champions, having conceded only one goal in their last away match in Leverkusen. In the league, on the other hand, Inzaghi’s team scores considerably more but also concedes more goals.
5 With the one made yesterday for Lautaro, Bastoni became the center-back with the most assists in the last five Champions League seasons five. Five, too, counting his performance this season in Serie A.
6 Inter is the team with the most clean sheets in this Champions League 6, but also the team that has kept a clean sheet the most times 18 across all competitions in the 2024/25 season in the five major European leagues.
7 As happened on just one occasion against Empoli, Sommer was not perfect last night in ball distribution. The Swiss goalkeeper, often called upon by his teammates, made a couple of blunders. We’re not used to seeing such mistakes considering the incredible quality of the goalkeeper’s footwork. We might even speculate: Are we sure that Donnarumma, a goalkeeper who is certainly not perfect with the ball at his feet, is the right profile for this style of play?
