Inter in the sign of Calhanoglu: assault on the quarter-finals of the Champions League and renewal

Renewal of the contract and qualification for the quarterfinals: Calhanoglu puts his signature on it. A double signature. Inter fans would be more than happy if the double “event” occurred, but let’s go slowly. With the extension of the agreement expiring in 2024 we are already… at checkers: in the last two days an agreement has been reached with the player’s agent, Gordon Stipic, to extend the bond until 2026 or 2027, perhaps through an option. There is agreement on the figures because Inter wanted to make Calha a point of reference for the future as well and because the Turkish player had no doubts about joining the Viale della Liberazione club. Without waiting or negotiating too much. An important demonstration of attachment to the shirt. The signature and the official announcement will not take long: just the time to arrange the documents and to identify the right moment for the announcement. It would be perfect if it comes… after qualifying for the quarterfinals.

SECOND SIGNATURE

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And here we enter the speech of the second signing that Hakan wants to put. This time he was on the field and not on a piece of paper. With the round of 16 of the Champions League he has an outstanding score that he wants to settle this year. In his career he has already tried on three occasions to access the quarterfinals of the most prestigious European cup, but his path has always been interrupted in March. Now he dreams of a different ending in history, for him and for Inter, who last passed the first round of the knockout stage in 2010-11, when they eliminated Bayern Munich with Leonardo on the bench. Other times.

ATHLETIC PICKUP

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The Turk played for the first time in the round of 16 of the Champions League in 2014-15 with the Bayer Leverkusen shirt. Opposite him were Atletico Madrid and he was a great protagonist in the first leg match, in which he scored the goal of his team’s home victory (1-0 on 25 February 2015). The Germans flew to the Spanish capital believing they could pull off the feat, but were eliminated on penalties. And that March 17, Calha missed the first of the penalties in the final series. A huge disappointment for a specialist like him. In 2016-17 fate seemed to have offered him a possible revenge on a silver platter as Bayer met Simeone’s colchoneros again in the round of 16. And instead the Turk watched that double challenge from the grandstand thanks to a four-month disqualification (complete with a 100,000 euro fine) imposed on him by the CAS for a violation of the law on membership which dated back to 2011. Hakan played for Karlsruhe and his father “closed” the contract to transfer his son to Trabzonspor. Calha, however, had refused to go to play in his homeland and in the summer of 2012 he said yes to Hamburg. The disqualification came (at the worst moment…) for having signed for two teams and goodbye to the round of 16 of the 2016-17 Champions League. Disembarked in Italy in 2017, with the Rossoneri shirt he has never tasted the Champions League, but he made up for it with that of Inter. Last season he was the protagonist of the double challenge in the round of 16 with Liverpool, without however being able to celebrate the passage of the round, and now he has put Porto in his sights.

LEADER

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Now Calha feels that the right time has come to debunk the taboo. Not only because the opponent, Porto, is probably the least strong of those he has faced so far in the round of 16, but above all because he is convinced that this Inter has reached a level of maturity in Europe that allows it to eliminate in the group stage the Barcelona. Hakan was in the control room on October 12, on the night of the match (3-3) at the Camp Nou, and on Wednesday he dreams of another game to remember. He will still be the fulcrum of the team’s game, the substitute for a Brozovic who is not at the top. From midfielder he has more chances to hurt with his insertions than he does, but in front of the defense he stitches up the game like few others. That’s why Inzaghi sipped him against Udinese: for the “battle” with Conceicao’s team he needed the number 20 at the top. And the latter, in turn, wanted to be ready to break the spell of the knockout stages of the Champions League. He feels that the right time has arrived and, although wounded inside by the terrible earthquake that hit his country, he wants to lead Inter towards the promised land of the quarter-finals.