Real Madrid revived their campaign in the Champions League after beating Inter Milan 2-0, a result that left the Serie A team a mountain to climb into Group Two.
Eden Hazard scored his first goal in the Champions League with Real Madrid when he scored from a penalty kick (7) after Nacho’s mistake by Niccolo Barrilla.
Inter, after collecting just two points from their first three matches, knew that only victory would do the trick, but their mission became more difficult when Arturo Vidal was sent off for two fast yellow cards by referee Anthony Taylor – both of whom were in opposition after failing to score. Receive an award. Punishment (33).
Rodrigo (59) settled the points with a first touch from the bench, and softly hit the back post after Lucas Vázquez’s cross.
After collecting just one point from the first two games, failure to qualify from the group stage for the first time in 24 years seemed a clear possibility for Real, but successive victories over Inter sealed these nerves.
How did Real return on the right track in the second group
Real were not in the mood to give Antonio Conte’s side an inch, and dominated the ball with the first kick as the homeowners failed to get any serve for Romelu Lukaku.
Real, without Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos, got an early lead when Nicola Barrilla cut Nacho’s heel off as he was about to shoot and Hazard comfortably scored the penalty. It was Hazard’s first goal in the Champions League in three years.
Vásquez hit the post for Real shortly afterwards before Inter began to work their way back into the match only to have Vidal send himself unnecessarily.
The Chilean player fell under the challenge of two players and was angry when the referee annulled his appeal for the penalty kick, and refused even to look at the screen next to the stadium. Vidal was booked for opposition, kept arguing, was booked again and Taylor fired him in a meaningless way.
Inter vanished another penalty when Roberto Gagliardini fell early in the second half before Real were hit again.
Vazquez was given a large space, returned the ball from the touchline and Rodrigo’s shot away from Akram Hakimi was hit.
Real Madrid remain second in Group Two with seven points from four matches, one point behind leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach. Shakhtar Donetsk is third by four while Inter Milan are in the two places, leaving them with a long chance to qualify.
Man of the Match: Eden Hazard
The Star: Eden Hazard
If the referees could have been awarded the Outstanding Player award, Anthony Taylor would have approached Hazard to make a courageous and reliable decision to expel Vidal for his anger. Meanwhile, it was amazing to watch Hazard playing with cunning and cunning not seen since joining Real Madrid. Hazard was not outdated but his ball-bearing skills, combined with his clever movement, were a constant annoyance to Inter.
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- Inter Milan lost four of their last five matches to Real Madrid in the European competition, losing twice to them in one season for the first time.
- Inter Milan failed to win any of their first four Champions League matches for the first time; The Nerazzurri has now won only two of their last 14 matches in the competition (D5 L7).
- Real Madrid’s Rodrigo scored just 32 seconds after appearing as a substitute, and also scored from the bench in the reverse match earlier this month. The Brazilian has participated directly in nine goals in nine UEFA Champions League matches (six goals and three assists).
- Vidal (also Juventus and Barcelona) is the third player sent off from three different UEFA Champions League teams after Patrick Vieira (Arsenal, Juventus and Inter Milan) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain).
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