Tuesday's champions league night witnessed another funny twist in Group F last group match between Seria A league leaders Inter and Laliga defending champions Barcelona. Inter Milan fans will be far from happy after they watched their in form Inter team kicked out of the UEFA champions league by a Barcelona squad that many thought would be a walkover for the highflying Conte's Inter, especially considering their form this season. After the news broke out that Barcelona's top first team players will not be featuring against Inter in their Tuesday's last group fixture, many Inter fans jubilated and were in high spirit to cheer their squad to victory. The best news was the absence of Lionel Messi from the squad to face Anthony Conte's side. The Argentine would have been a big menace to their qualification chances, his non inclusion in the lineup was seen as a huge boost. Even Dortmund fans became annoyed and reacted in disappointment after learning about the news, it meant Inter will stand a better chance to qualify from Group F than Dortmund who were at same points going into Tuesday's encounter. However, a wasteful Inter Milan side saw themselves thrown out of the Competition after Barcelona netted a late winner to secure a 2-1 win at San Siro. One will wonder why Inter will chose to be wasteful or less clinical in a night like this when they needed the goals more, maybe they underrated Barcelona's squad and that led to complacency on their part.
Barcelona's second leg victory over the Italian side is nothing attached to a wonderful performance on their part, but due to a slack by Inter and their inability to take their chances when it came knocking. The victory was also a reflection that Barcelona's La Masia football academy remains the future for the Catalan giants and the need to give more attention to the youths. Both goals that were recorded against Inter in yesterday's champions league second leg encounter were scored by graduates of the academy, Carles Perez and the 17 year old Ansu Fati who was introduced in the second half. Carles Perez sent chilly breeze across the San Siro on Tuesday when he drew the first blood of the night by netting Barcelona's opener to put more pressure on Inter, who needed the win more than their visitors. However, the Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku ensured Inter Milan were brought back into the game before the halftime whistle, as a 20 yards shot saw Inter equalise to leave the score at 1-1 before halftime. Second half saw Barcelona settling in a little bit more even though Inter attack were on an harmless rampage. Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez will sure get a big share of the blame for Inter's elimination from the Champions League, as both were too wasteful to qualify to the next round. With Ansu Fati introduced in late second half, the 17 year old left Inter stunned after firing a late winner for the visitors to ensure Conte's side don't progress to the next round. With Borussia Dortmund claiming a well fought for 2-1 win against a resilient Slavia Praha side, the Germans booked a spot as Group F second qualifying team. Inter will now have to head to the Europa league to continue their European adventure and hope they extend their form to the Europa.
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