Lautaro Martinez provided one goal and one assist, but Inter left Madrid empty handed as Real held on to win 3-2 at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano.
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Lautaro Martinez provided one goal and one assist, but Inter left Madrid empty handed as Real held on to win 3-2 at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano.
Follow all the action as it happens from this game and Atalanta-Liverpool on the LIVEBLOG.
This was a surprising clash because Shakhtar Donetsk were top with four points, whereas Inter had two and Real Madrid just one. Romelu Lukaku was out injured and Alexis Sanchez not fully fit, so Ivan Perisic was a makeshift striker alongside Lautaro Martinez, but Achraf Hakimi returned to face his old club. Zinedine Zidane missed Dani Carvajal, Nacho, Alvaro Odriozola and Martin Odegaard, while Eder Militao had COVID-19.
It was played at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano rather than the Bernabeu, as the Merengues feel it is less empty behind closed doors.
Real Madrid had the first chance after only a few minutes, as Eden Hazard combined with Toni Kroos, and then found Marco Asensio in the box. His shot was on target, but a one-hand save by Samir Handanovic pushed it over for a corner.
Inter threatened on the counter early on and came with four players every chance they had. Achraf Hakimi at the right used his pace to find Ivan Perisic with a low pass, but the Croatian got it a bit far ahead and had to stop the ball before crossing it. Nicolò Barella's header hit the top of Thibaut Courtoi’s bar.
After 13 minutes, Arturo Vidal tried from 25 yards out, a great strike hitting the side netting. Lautaro did well to keep the ball in the build-up before giving it to the Chilean who rushed onwards.
Hakimi had been influential going forward but was also influential at the other end when Karim Benzema grabbed the first goal of the match after 24 minutes.
The wing-back’s pass back was poor and picked up by Benzema, who dinked it past Handanovic and jumped over the onrushing goalkeeper before he could easily put it in the back of the net.
Almost 10 minutes later, Eden Hazard forces a corner kick and at the end of that Sergio Ramos has cleared himself from his marker and steers the ball with a beautiful and controlled header into the bottom corner.
But Inter responded two minutes later, as a fantastic assist by Nicolò Barella, flicked through with his back heel to find Lautaro, who smashes it in behind Courtois. Great through ball and great finish.
Apart from a few fouls by Vidal and an increase in tempo, the match stopped producing clear chances before half-time, but the visitors responded after going down by two and there’s a match in Madrid.
Inter came out very determined to bounce back and pushed Real Madrid back, the Nerazzurri were the pace setters in the second half, despite a few chances for Real Madrid.
Casemiro lost possession in the middle and Inter immediately pounced and a through ball to Lautaro was onside due to a very deep Raphael Varane in the hosts defence and he headers it through to Perisic.
The Croatian shields the ball well and does well to finish, pulls it back across goal and into corner for 2-2 at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano.
Straight after Barella and Perisic, who had been heavily involved on the night, came off, Real Madrid found space in behind when Federico Valverde sent Vinicius Junior through.
The winger found another substitute, Rodrygo, in the middle and he made no mistakes from 11 yards. Smashed it into the net behind Handanovic to give Real the lead after a half dominated by the visitors.
A brave display from Inter, who are not dead yet and were unlucky not to pick up at least a point in Spain tonight.
Benzema grabbed the first goal for Real Madrid and worked tirelessly to spearhead Zinedine Zidane’s men.
Real Madrid 3-2 Inter
Benzema 24 (RM), Ramos 32 (RM), Lautaro 34 (I), Perisic 68 (I), Rodrygo 80 (RM)
Real Madrid:Courtois; Lucas Vazquez, Varane, Ramos, Mendy; Valverde, Casemiro, Kroos (Modric 73); Asensio (Rodrygo 63), Benzema, E Hazard (Vinicius 63)
Inter:Handanovic; D'Ambrosio, De Vrij, Bastoni; Hakimi, Vidal (Nainggolan 86), Brozovic, Young; Barella (Gagliardini 73); Lautaro Martinez, Perisic (Alexis 73)
Ref:Turpin (FRA)