Razeen Gutta
A first half Hakan Calhanoglu goal was enough for Inter Milan to steal a 1-0 win over Barcelona at the San Siro on Tuesday.
Despite having much less of the ball, the hosts looked solid on the counter attack with Simone Inzhagi’s side absorbing the Barcelona pressure from the onset.
The visitors had over two thirds of possession and seven shots to Inter’s five.
That hardly mattered, however, when Turkish international Calhanoglu struck an unstoppable finish into the bottom corner of the net to give the Italian side the lead before halftime.
Barcelona finally opened up the Inter defence just after the hour mark when Ousmane Dembele hit the post.
Moments later Pedri thought he had equalised but for VAR overturning his attempt for a hand ball in the build up.
Xavi’s side thought they had a penalty in stoppage time when Denzel Dumfries looked to have handled the ball. It was not conclusive, though, and the visitors were denied a spot kick.
Robert Lewandowski was kept quiet up front for Barcelona and the hosts saw out the final stages for a famous European win.
The victory gives Inter the advantage to qualify alongside Bayern Munich at the halfway point of the group stages, with the German side picking up an emphatic 5-0 win at home over Vikroria Plzen.
In other results on the night, Liverpool beat Rangers 2-0 at Anfield while Napoli thrashed Ajax 6-1 away from home. Atletico Madrid lost 2-0 to Club Brugge to send them bottom of the group and Tottenham Hotspur got just a point after a 0-0 draw in Frankfurt.
Image source: @Inter_en
