Benfica 0-2 Inter Milan: Internazionale is within one leg in the semi-finals of the Champions League. On Tuesday evening, a visit to Benfica was surprisingly won. The loss for the Portuguese outfit followed a loss at the hands of Porto over the weekend. Which marked only their 2nd loss of the ongoing league campaign.
Inter Milan earns surprise victory at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica
The first half of the contest already showed that fans were up for something not typically expected from a Benfica home game. It was goalless at half time.
Later in the second half, Nico Barella opened the scoring. What followed was attempt after attempt by the hosts to equalise in vain. Towards the end of the fixture Romelo Lukaku converted a penalty to extend the lead.
Not everyone had predicted in advance that the Italians could stunt at Benfica. The club of trainer Roger Schmidt can hardly be beaten this season and, for example, kept Paris Saint-Germain in check twice in the Champions League. Inter Milan, on the other hand, have not won in their last six matches.
Second half
Still, it was very even in the first half, the halftime score of 0-0 was not very surprising given the game image. Shortly after the break, Inter Milan made the difference through Nicolò Barella, who headed in from a Federico Dimarco cross. With David Neres in the team, among others, Benfica went looking for the equaliser, but it did not fall.
VAR Pol van Boekel gifted another goal for Inter Milan
In fact, Inter Milan made the fairytale even more beautiful through an intervention by VAR Pol van Boekel. Ten minutes before the end, the ball came after a cross from Denzel Dumfries on the arm of João Mário, which referee Michael Oliver had missed. After a replay on the sidelines, he went along with Van Boekel’s story and the ball hit the spot, after which substitute Romelu Lukaku used the penalty kick.
Inter Milan is in good shape towards a possible place in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The elimination of Benfica would be an unsurvivable blow for Portugal in the coefficient battle with the Netherlands. The return match will be played in Milan in a week’s time.
