Champions: Inter, an own goal is enough for the summit. Atalanta in tennis version in Bern
Champions League: Inter-RB Leipzig 1-0, Young Boys-Atalanta 1-6
It ends with a perfect balance of three victories out of as many matches on Tuesday evening in the Champions League for the Italian teams: in fact, the late afternoon success of Milan over Slovan Bratislava was followed by another external victory, the 6-1 win of Atalanta over Young Boys, and the 1-0 victory of Inter Milan over Leipzig, a success that is worth the first place in the standings for the Beneamata while waiting for Wednesday’s matches.
Deciding the match played at San Siro è an own goal, realized in spite of himself by Castello Lukeba: on the free kick taken from a defiladed position by Dimarco, the French footballer was displaced by the trajectory of the ball, just touched by De Vrij, and ended up beating his own goalkeeper, the Hungarian Gulacsi. Inter controlled without ever being subjected more than too much to the opponent pressure, and without overdoing it went on to take three very important points to launch the sprint for the top eight positions, with only three days to go. The only blemish of the evening was the injury suffered by Pavard, who was forced to leave the field to Bisseck at 44' of the first half.
In Bern, on the other hand, the match è crackling from the start and saw the back-and-forth between Atalanta and Young Boys between 9' and 11': Retegui put the Nerazzurri ahead by beating Von ballmoos on the way out, Ganvoula then anticipated Hien on a corner action and made it 1-1. From there on, however, there is only Gian Piero Gasperini’s team: De Ketelaere signed the 2-1 on the left at 28' after a spectacular assist, with the heel, by Kossounou; Kolasinac signed the tris at 32' on a perfect throw from the Belgian; Retegui made it a double at 39' and practically closed the games already at minute 39, jumping a defender and overtaking the goalkeeper with a precise conclusion.
In the second half, the Nerazzurri added two more goals to their tally, again with De Ketelaere at 56', with the former Milan man good at finishing from the limit after overcoming a couple of opposing defenders, and finally with Samardzic at 91', with a dynamic very similar to the previous goal but with a right-handed conclusion.
In the standings, therefore, Inter take the lead to 13 points and, in view of tomorrow's matches, can only be overtaken by Liverpool, should the latter win against Real Madrid. Atalanta è on the other hand, fourth with 11 points, a position that would be worth, if maintained until the end of the League Phase, direct qualification to the round of 16 without going through the playoff hurdle.
