Inter Milan bring the Champions League last 16 tickets

DBasia.news – Inter Milan managed to secure a ticket to the knockout stages of the European Champions League after beating Viktoria Plzen 4-0 at the San Siro. This victory also ensured Barcelona to be eliminated from the Europa League.

Simone Inzaghi’s troops were initially unseeded to qualify for the last 16 as they were in a hellish group with Bayern Munich and Barca. But the victory over the giants of the Czech Republic, Plzen, broke that presumption.

Thanks to goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan (35′) and Edin Dzeko (42′, 66′), and Romelu Lukaku (87′), Inter Milan has the right to walk with other European elites, while Barcelona must accept the fate of playing in the Europa League for the second season in a row.

Continuing to bombard from the start, Inter Milan finally broke the deadlock in the 35th minute thanks to Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s header.

Federico Dimarco’s pass freed Alessandro Bastoni on the left flank before the Italian defender latched onto a cross at the far post. Edin Dzeko was unable toreach the ball, but Mkhitaryan headed it into the bottom right corner.

Seven minutes later, the Nerazzurri further solidified their path to the Champions League knockout stages thanks to Dzeko’s close-range goal.

It was Dimarco’s turn to penetrate the left, and his pass into the face of the goal created a tap-in for the Bosnian striker. Barcelona fans began to panic as Inter’s victory, regardless of the score, would ensure them to fall back into the Europa League.

Entering the second half, Inter remained fierce and Dzeko deserved his second goal in the 66th minute. Nicolo Barella penetrated Plzen’s defense with a pass for Lautaro Martinez, the Argentine striker then passed the ball to Dzeko who cheated the ball with one touch, 3-0 to the host.

Inter Milan went further behind after Romelu Lukaku marked his recovery from injury with a goal in the 87th minute. The Chelsea loanee played a one-two with Joaquin Correa and received the ball in the penalty area before directing his shot into the left corner of Jindrich Stanek’s goal.

Lineup:

Inter Milan (3-5-2): Andre Onana; Alessandro Bastoni, Milan Skriniar, Francesco Acerbi; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Hakan Calhanoglu, Federico Dimarco; Edin Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez.

Viktoria Plzen (3-4-3): Jindrich Stanek; Lukas Hejda, Ludek Pernica, Mohamed Tijani; Milan Havel, Luke Kalvach, Pavel Bucha, John Mosquera; Erik Jirka, Adam Vlkanova, Fortune Akpan Bassey.