In Athens the Nerazzurri did not take advantage of their numerical superiority at the end of the match and said goodbye to the competition: Cocchi’s mistake which promoted the Greeks was decisive
Inter still stops in the Youth League play-offs. As happened last year against the Ukrainians of Rukh Lviv, the Nerazzurri lost the challenge to qualify for the round of 16 against Olympiacos on penalties: the decisive error of Matteo Cocchi, left back, one of the best on the pitch. Inter’s Primavera team hasn’t reached the round of 16 in the competition since the summer of 2020: even two years ago their run stopped in the play-offs, against Zilina.
FIRST HALF
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As second in the group, Inter faces the team coming from the qualifying rounds among the domestic champions, with Olympiacos having already eliminated Lecce. The start of the match was comforting for Cristian Chivu’s boys: pace, intensity, opportunities. There is balance, we play above all in midfield but, once the match starts, it is the Nerazzurri who create dangers: in five minutes, from the 17th minute, Kamate, Cocchi and above all Stabile become dangerous, who headers from a few steps actually places the ball in the arms of the opposing goalkeeper, Sina. Then Berenbruch kicks with a deflection and at the end of the first half Kamate has the big lead: from two steps away, with the net empty, he is unable to put in a cross coming from the left, from Cocchi’s left foot. Also worth mentioning are some protests from Olympiacos following a tackle by Nerazzurri goalkeeper Raimondi on Koutsogoulas, shortly after the half hour mark. But the result of the first half is close to Inter.
FINAL AND PENALTY
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In the first part of the second half the match becomes uncomfortable: the home team grows, especially around the middle of the half Raimondi becomes the protagonist three times, in particular with a great intervention on Papakanellos to block a close-range shot from the tip. Papakanellos himself, a few minutes later, gets kicked out: intervention on Di Maggio – first ball, but then he overwhelms the opponent – and second yellow card. Inter in numerical superiority from the 72nd minute, although the injury to Kamate, who came off a few minutes earlier with Mosconi replacing him, risks having an impact. As the atmosphere became tense, with the crowd increasingly involved in the game, the Nerazzurri immediately tried to take advantage of the extra man: in the 75th minute Cocchi shot well with his left foot from a tight angle, but Sina got ahead of himself and the ball also chipped the pole. Chivu believes it: “Come on, let’s do it.” For a short time, the incitement does not become reality: Mosconi shoots with space from the spot, with first intention, but fails to hurt Sina. And on the counterattack Olympiacos has the ball to make it 1-0: Liatsikouras, coming off the bench, hits with his right foot from an excellent position but widens the diagonal too much. This is how we go to penalties: Stankovic, Di Maggio, Owusu, Stante and Sarr score as do their opponents, Cocchi’s mistake (high shot) condemns Inter.
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