The end was dramatic and, twice in stoppage time, the “iron irons” of the goal defended by André Onana prevented the “dragons” from taking the discussion of the round of 16 of the Champions League to extra time. However, after 180 intense minutes between FC Porto and Inter, a single goal, scored by Lukaku in Milan, unbalanced the tie in favor of the Italians. In a duel, at Dragão, in which Inter were almost always comfortable defending, the goalless draw penalizes FC Porto’s lack of accuracy in finishing.
After having stated, the day before, that the important thing for FC Porto would be to win, whether with “bass drum, concertina, violin or opera”, and that “playing with 70 passes to the area” made him “sleepless”, Sérgio Conceição will not have enjoyed the start of the duel with the Italians.
What a move, deserved more ?????
?? @ChampionsLeague | @FCPorto 0 x 0 @Inter#ChampionsELEVEN pic.twitter.com/924O092tQ5
— ELEVEN Portugal (@ElevenSports_PT) March 14, 2023
With two important casualties already announced (João Mário and Otávio), the Porto coach was deprived of another of his pillars at the start of the match — Pepe did not play due to physical problems —, but the main sin of the “dragons” was the lack of objectivity in the attack
Against an Inter that always tried to put pressure on the ball carrier, FC Porto had Uribe, Eustáquio and Grujic in the center of the field. With Otávio out and Pepê limited by the retreat to the right side of the defense, the “blue and white” football had possession and more passes, but less progression in the first third of the match.
Despite two threats, from Uribe (3′) and Eustáquio (19′), the first big opportunity came from Inter — Dzeko shot after a quick attack by the Milanese, earning Diogo Costa’s attention from Porto.
With 66% possession of the ball at half an hour, FC Porto did not translate this superiority into chances: 3-3 in shots, 7-6 in attacks. With Inter more objective and comfortable at Dragão, Conceição did not hide his discontent on the sidelines several times.
However, in the last minutes of the first half, the monotony was broken. At 40′, in the best move by Porto in the initial half, several combinations always in progression resulted in a breach in Inter’s defense, but, in the “Hour Hour”, Di Marco, with a cut celebrated as a goal, prevented a threatening shot from Evanilson threatened the goal defended by André Onana.
Shortly after, in the last shot of FC Porto before the break, Eustáquio was inches away from deflecting a good cross from Pepê.
This ending ?? Gave it all, Dragons ??#ChampionsELEVEN pic.twitter.com/N8kdiWvv94
— ELEVEN Portugal (@ElevenSports_PT) March 14, 2023
With half the time to score a goal that equalized the tie already spent, Conceição kept everything the same. With no great options on the bench to inject more quality into the team, the “dragons” returned for the second half without any replacement. The result was more of the same: FC Porto without solutions to create imbalances in the last third; Inter comfortable managing the advantage.
With only two unsuccessful opportunities in the first 15 minutes (Uribe and Galeno), the blue and white players saw Inter gain a slight superiority at the last minute of the game, which forced Sérgio Conceição to make the first bets: at 71′, André Franco and Toni Martínez replaced Eustáquio and Evanilson — the Brazilian still seems to be physically limited. In theory, FC Porto gained fantasy (André Franco) and fighting ability in the area (Toni Martínez). However, he had the clock playing against him.
And it was in the all-or-nothing phase, with the blue and white team managing to bring Inter to the ropes for the first time, that the “dragons” were inches away from extra time: André Onana saved a shot by Taremi for the post and Grujic, also from head, hit the crossbar. As in Milan, the lack of effectiveness penalized FC Porto, benefiting a methodical Inter with a “little star”.