FC Porto said goodbye to the Champions League with Inter Milan yesterday by playing a 0-0 draw at Dragão. Sérgio Conceição’s team needed a goal to draw the tie and were caught up in the Italians’ defensive web for almost the entire game, but they can even complain about the bad luck in the final moments of the match, when they saw a ball are saved over the line and two others hit the irons.
This result prevented Portugal from having two teams in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time, with FC Porto falling out of the competition and collecting a total of €60.3 million in prize money.
Pepe’s absence due to physical problems added more headaches from Sérgio Conceição before the match, as he could no longer count on two other usual starters: João Mário due to injury and Otávio due to suspension. In addition, it was necessary to overcome a 0-1 deficit against an opponent who, as could be expected, would appear on Dragão with all defensive precautions, or if there was no Italian team, with a traditional system of three central defenders and two strikers (Dzeko and Lautaro Martínez) ready to checkmate Diogo Costa’s goal.
And so it was. Inter were an expecting team, with a very compact defensive block for their area, which caused a lot of problems for the blue and white players, who found it very difficult to get the ball into the Italian area. It was therefore not surprising that Sérgio Conceição’s team opted for the long shot and created danger twice via Uribe (3″) and Eustáquio (19″). The first and only time in the first half that the Dragons entered the Italian territory in danger was only in the 40th minute, in a good push from Pepê, which culminated in a great swipe from Dimarco on Evanilson’s shot.
It is true that FC Porto tried to play fast, looking for space, but it is also true that as time went on they took more and more risks, especially with loss of possession that left the defense exposed to counter-attacks from the opponents, almost always to the left side, where Dimarco was an arrow and tried to take advantage of the fact that the right side of the defense was given to Pepê. In one of those moments, Dzeko Diogo forced Costa into a tight defense, but the fact is that the FC Porto goalkeeper was always on point.
Strong emotions only at the end
The dragons had to be more patient in the second half, after all, one goal was enough to tie the score. In addition, it was essential to let the ball flow quickly, but more assertiveness in the pass so that the team was not exposed to Italian counter-attacks. But what the game showed were the same difficulties faced by Sérgio Conceição’s team, who, due to the lack of solutions to connect the game to the men in the area, tried to shoot from afar – repeated in the 47th minute Uribe the way he started the game, but this time the shot from distance went over the goal.
Grujic imitated his teammate in the 76th minute with a shot for Andre Onana to save. By then, Inter were defending even more confidently and had already backed Romelu Lukaku, the goalscorer in the first leg, hoping his physical strength and speed would make the difference. That did not happen because, contrary to what happened in the first half, FC Porto was safer in defensive transitions.
Sérgio Conceição had no great options on the bench and tried everything with Toni Martínez and Danny Namaso up front, but his lucidity was lost as the 90th minute approached. After all, strong emotions did not come until extra time and FC Porto could lament their luck, as they saw Dumfries take a shot from Marcano on the line and saw two balls in the irons in the series: Taremi on his way to defend Onana until the end post and Grujic hits the crossbar. Sérgio Conceição and the Porto supporters were desperate with so many missed opportunities to take the game to extra time.
Before the end, a message for Pepê who saw the second yellow and was suspended at the farewell to the Champions League.
Source: DN
