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#2 Zinedine Zidane's tactics pay off, as do his substitutions
After insisting with a 4-3-3 formation in each of Real's three previous Champions League group stage games and having limited success, Zidane needed to shuffle the pack and it worked here.
Conte's adventurous 3-5-2 produces some beautiful football at times, but hasn't translated to wins against tough opposition regularly enough. They were 2-0 down inside 35 minutes on MD3 and despite recovering to equalise, lost 3-2 after Rodrygo's 80th-minute winner off the bench.
The Brazilian teenager played a pivotal role off the bench soon after being called upon by Zidane, who could sense that ten-man Inter were starting to rally with increasing confidence. They had a penalty appeal denied, and Lucas Vazquez made a last-ditch defensive intervention before Thibaut Courtois was called into action as substitute Ivan Perisic lurked dangerously.
Zidane's double change proved the ultimate sucker punch, as Toni Kroos' clever reverse pass into an overlapping Vazquez helped tee up Rodrygo at the far post. Although replays showed his sliced close-range effort took a deflection off the retreating Hakimi, Real survived a period of sustained pressure before doubling their advantage in a match of fine margins - red card or otherwise.
Casemiro's inclusion, in place of Odegaard, provided more defensive solidity in midfield alongside the Kroos-Modric duo who impressed as they so often do. He had more touches (55) and completed passes (49, 98% success) in 30-odd minutes than Odegaard in 60, without doing much defending either. The game was over.
#1 Antonio Conte and his players have it all to do
Inter's four-match winless run came to an end, and this latest display will leave plenty of questions at Conte's door in Milan.
They face an away trip to second-placed Sassuolo on Saturday and cannot afford to drop points in their final two Champions League group games. For the third season running, they've flattered to deceive among Europe's elite and it seems they'll face a scrap with Shakhtar for third place.
It's not where they expected to be just three months ago, after scoring first but ultimately losing 3-2 to Sevilla in last season's Europa League Final. They finished second in Serie A - their highest finish since 2010-11 - just a point behind Juventus and were expected to start strong this term.
Instead, their rivals Milan have started brilliantly while they lag behind across all fronts. The next six weeks of the campaign will prove decisive as far as their high aspirations are concerned.
Lukaku's comments at the weekend were impactful because it's true - despite spending more than £450m over the past four seasons, they're no closer to bridging the gap than other rivals who've invested more wisely.
Conte is a perfectionist who has won multiple honours elsewhere and will take perspective from this defeat, but how long before the pressure on him intensifies?
