Shakhtar Donetsk and Internazionale balanced each other on Tuesday evening in a little uplifting game during the second group match in the Champions League. Both teams had chances to score, but failed to do so: 0-0. In particular, 37-year-old Andriy Pyatov proved to be an obstacle for the Milanese. For Inter, it means the second group match with a loss of points, after losing to Real Madrid at home two weeks ago. Denzel Dumfries and Stefan de Vrij were in the base with the visitors and played the entire game.
It was only the second time in Champions League history that two Dutchmen started on behalf of Inter, after Edgar Davids and Andy van der Meijde in November 2004 against Werder Bremen. Shakhtar and Inter have met five times before in the billion-dollar ball and the Ukrainians have never taken off with a victory. This time the first danger came from the home side. Manor Solomon managed to score just outside the penalty area after five minutes of play, but saw his attempt go past the left post.
aiii ?? Denzel Dumfries and ex-Ajacied Lassina Traore collide hard and the latter in particular suffers a lot ?? The Burkinese has to leave the field by brand card ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #SHKINT pic.twitter.com/P2r5PWCZkW
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) September 28, 2021
The biggest blow for Shakhtar came after about ten minutes, when Lassina Traoré fell painfully after an unfortunate collision with Dumfries. The attacker’s leg flipped double, after which he was wheeled off the field on a stretcher. In the first act, the possibilities could be counted on one hand. Edin Dzeko had a cross from an indirect corner for tapping in, but inexplicably shot over. Dumfries also failed to score moments later. The right-back first headed into the back of a Shakhtar player and needed too much time in the rebound.
Trainer Simone Inzaghi tried to bring about something in the second half with fresh energy in an attacking sense, but also substitute Joaquin Correa and Hakan Çalhanoglu were unable to make the difference. Correa, however, was still close with a shot that was just saved from the corner by Andriy Pyatov. “You get a cabinet faster than a goal from Shakhtar or Internazionale. Everything goes next to it, everything goes over it,” commentator Ronald van der Geer cynically described the game at Ziggo Sport. The second act did not pass completely silently, as the best chance was for Shakhtar.
After good preparatory work on the right side of the field, Dodo appeared to have the ball from a meter from the goal for shooting, but an extended leg by Milan Skriniar prevented a goal. On the other hand, Lautaro Martínez was closest to the decision. The Argentinian got the ball twenty minutes before the end with some fortune and immediately shot out of the turn, but was much too wild in the completion. The last chance of the match, a header by De Vrij, was defused by Pyatov.