Inter Milan 1-2 Barcelona: 3 Reasons Why the Blaugrana won | Champions League 2019-20

#2 Inter left to rue their missed opportunities

Lukaku was guilty of missing a few chances

Inter came into the encounter having scored 31 goals in 15 league games, thereby signalling that their offensive play was in fine fettle. However, in arguably their biggest game of the season, that particular aspect spectacularly came unstuck as they kept fluffing their lines with alarming regularity.

Early in the match, Danilo D’Ambrosio was accorded a shooting opportunity on the edge of the box. However, the Italian horribly sliced his shot as it sailed well over the bar.

A few minutes later, Lukaku did extremely well to turn Samuel Umtiti inside out. Yet, the Belgian just took a touch too many, thereby allowing a retreating Clement Lenglet to make a last-ditch block. Cristiano Biraghi was also guilty of spurning a chance when shot straight at Neto after being set up by the former Manchester United striker.

After Barcelona scored, Inter tried their best to restore parity but their wastefulness acted as a serious impediment to their goal with D’ Ambrosio missing perhaps their most gilt-edged opening when he headed wide from inside the 6-yard-box.

The trend continued after the restart too as Lukaku and Martinez took turns to wildly swing at their strikes, even at a juncture when a bit of composure and conviction would have done the trick. The former in particular, was culpable for smashing a 1v1 chance straight into Neto’s midriff.

Through the course of the 2019-20 season, Inter have looked a reinvigorated outfit under the tutelage of Antonio Conte, with their attacking play becoming a standout feature.

Yet, when the occasion demanded, they failed to come up trumps, meaning that they now have to save those dazzling displays for the Europa League.