Inter, Benfica opponents of the Champions League, lost at home to Porto 2-1

The roar of the dragon silences the Da Luz and raises the tension slightly for the season finale. Porto prevails (1-2) against all odds in Classic in Lisbon, beating Benfica – Inter’s next opponents in the Champions League – and ending their rivals’ streak of ten consecutive Primeira Liga victories, eight of which without conceding a goal.

This time however Schmidt’s team collects two, with the signatures of Uribe at the end of the first half and Taremi at the beginning of the second half, to respond to the opening feat of the usual Gonçalo Ramos classified as an own goal. This result closes the gap at the top: Benfica remain top of the table but are now seven points clear of Porto with as many games to go.

THE MATCH

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Without Guedes and Draxler, Schmidt prefers to rely on his setters in the frontline with Joao Mario, Rafa Silva and Aursnes behind Ramos. Conceiçao recovers Pepe, the Portuguese defender, and deploys the canonical 4-4-2 with Taremi and the other Pepe, the Brazilian striker, up front. After less than two minutes, Antonio Silva stands out in a decisive closing on Taremi ready to shoot on goal in the heart of the area. The rhythms are immediately very high and the game clashes are hard and frequent; a foul entry by Uribe, for example, forced Bah to leave the field in the middle of the fraction. Before being replaced, however, he manages to make his mark. The game plan of the two formations jumps in the 10th minute: Bah himself runs off to the right and crosses, Ramos towers over Pepe, the ball hits the crossbar and then Diogo Costa, entering the goal. All thanks to the Pistoleiro, but formally it was the goalkeeper’s own goal. For half an hour the game doesn’t take off, it’s the quiet before an eventful ending. Pepe remembers that he’s not just a veteran with a textbook intervention on Ramos in front of goal, shortly after so many protests for the goal disallowed in Manafa due to a contact correctly considered foul between Taremi and Vlachodimos. It is the prelude to the draw, which arrives on the stroke of 45′. Manafa suggests in the area for the Brazilian Pepe, who invents a splendid twisting chest bank for Uribe’s surgical right foot. In the very long stoppage time another goal disallowed by Galeno, beyond the last defender of the Benfica line by only six centimetres.

THE RECOVERY

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Schmidt’s team gradually loses the distance between the departments, in particular between defense and midfield, and pays the consequences in the 54th minute: on a pass from the defence, Galen intercepts the ball with a header, Pepe (the attacker) accommodates it and Taremi fishes the corner with a perfect diagonal from the edge of the area. Both coaches change something, Neres enters one side and Joao Mario and Eustaquio in Porto. Not even the entry of the former Ajax full-back has any effect, on the contrary it is the guests who go close to the net twice which would close the match. In the 62nd minute Otavio tries just outside the area with a cross shot that goes wide, on the other hand in the 73rd minute Taremi spoils a three-on-one situation in front of goal with a weak and inaccurate pass. If compaction is required, Conceiçao’s men are trained to perfection. Benfica created the only interesting situation at the start of recovery, when an undisturbed Ramos surprisingly missed the deflection from a few meters away. Simone Inzaghi take note.