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Inter Milan hosted Barcelona at the San Siro for the 6th matchday of the UEFA Champions League group stage. This was a must-win game for Antonio Conte's men as their qualification hopes hinged on them getting a victory.
Ernesto Valverde went with a much weaker side for this game as the likes of Moussa Wague, Carles Perez, Jean-Clair Todibo, and Carles Alena got starts. The match started with Inter Milan controlling the game but Barcelona took the lead against the run of play, as Carles Perez scored, thanks to composed finish.
The Blaugrana then started creating more opportunities, although they couldn't manufacture anything significant from the same. Those near-misses proved costly as Inter equalised just before half-time, thanks to a deflected strike from Romelu Lukaku.
In the second half, Inter threatened to score the winner but due to their lack of potency in front of goal, they failed to capitalise on their momentum.
Barcelona scored the winner via youngster Ansu Fati, who pulled off an excellent finish to become the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Champions League.
On that note here are the three key observations from Barcelona's 2-1 victory over Inter Milan.
#3 Barcelona's fringe players impress
In the build up to the game, Barcelona left the likes of Lionel Messi and Gerard Piqué at home, while the likes of Luis Suárez and Frenkie de Jong were on the bench. With a 3-5-2 formation in play, Ernesto Valverde gave his fringe players a huge opportunity against Inter.
It is fair to say, every one of them impressed on the day. The likes of Moussa Wague and Jean-Clair Todibo didn't look fazed by the occasion, instead, they stood tall and made themselves count, especially Todibo, who held his own against Lautaro Martinez.
Carles Perez opened the scoring for the Blaugrana and even though he didn't have a great game overall, scoring at the San Siro is no mean feat. Even Samuel Umtiti managed to impress and it looks like the Frenchman is finally getting back to his best.
Also check out: Champions League Schedule Champions League table Champions league top scorers
#2 Inter Milan forwards fail to capitalise on their chances
The biggest drawback for Antonio Conte from Inter Milan's performance against Barcelona has to be the fact they just didn't take their chances.
The home side played well, dominated the game for most parts, created opportunities, but failed to finish off their big openings. So much so that the home side had the ball into the back of the net three times but all of them were ruled out due to offside.
Even though Romelu Lukaku scored on the day, the Belgian's overall performance wasn't great and if he was clinical in front of goal, he could have easily scored a hat-trick. Also, Lautaro Martinez was teasing and teasing the Barcelona backline but there was no end product to his game, which is a trait rarely seen in the deadly Argentine forward.
As good as Lukaku and Lautaro have been this season, both of them have more often than not failed to have an impact on the bigger games.
#1 Ernesto Valverde's substitutions changed the game
During minutes 47 to 60, Inter Milan were utterly dominating the away side, Romelu Lukaku could have converted twice but his finishing let him down, the Blaugrana survived.
Ernesto Valverde has been rightly criticised for some of the in-game decisions he has made this season but against Inter, his substitutions worked a treat and he needs to be given credit for that.
Frenkie de Jong and Luis Suárez instantly shifted the balance of the game, after they came on for Ivan Rakitic and Antoine Griezmann respectively.
Ansu Fati, who came on for Carles Perez late on in the game, scored the winning goal, from a lay-off by Luis Suarez. Barcelona's convincing away performance against Inter saw the enter the next stage of the tournament as the group leaders, and eased off tremendous pressure from the shoulders of their under fire coach Ernesto Valverde.
