0-0 and 0-0. Those were the results from last year’s Champions League group stage games between Inter and Shakhtar and both clubs managed to do the same in this year’s competition too. After a couple of good chances for both teams, in the end, it was the veteran home keeper Pyatov (37) with two fantastic saves who gave hope to the Ukrainians: Shakhar – Inter 0-0. It’s now 270 minutes of football without a goal between these two teams, and the Italians will regret for not winning this one, as this result may come back to haunt them in the end. In a group with Real Madrid, both teams know what the place to the knockout stage will be decided between them but they still produced only a goalless draw. Now, a return leg in Milan is a must win for both clubs, unless one of them somehow manages to surprise Real and take a point or three. During the first half, the hosts had most of possession (61%), which was expected, with the amount of Brazilians in the first team, and they also had lucid passes to full backs, which created a lot of problems for Inter defense, but Skriniar was always there to cover up everything. Inter on the other hand had three excellent chances in the first 45 minutes, and it’s incredible how did they missed them all. First it was Barella, whose shot rattled the crossbar, then Lautaro Martinez went just over the bar, but the biggest miss came from Edin Džeko. The experienced striker, with so many goals scored already had the ball inside the goal area, and somehow managed to miss the whole goal. A visible vivid Roberto De Zebri obviously had a few choice words to say to his players during the half-time, and whatever he said worked, since the Ukrainians came out flying and created two really good opportunities in the first 10 minutes. Skriniar made a sensational tackle and prevented Pedrinho to tap-in from six meters, and after that, coach Inzaghi instructed their players to defend in 5-3-2 formation, which eventually worked and Inter regrouped. Lautaro again had a great opportunity, but (again) missed the whole goal from 12 meters. In the 84th minute, Inter finally had two consecutive shots on goal, but veteran Pyatov (37) became the hero of the game when he managed to save excellent shots from Correa and Skriniar. In the other early scheduled Champions League game, Ajax had no problems with Besiktas, as the Dutch giants won 2-0. The scorers were Berghuis and Haller, but the game has developed in such a way that the hosts should have scored much more goals. UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUEGroup stage – Matchday 2TuesdayAjax – Besiktas (2-0)/Berghuis 17, Haller 43/Shakhtar – Inter (0-0)22.00: (2.95) PSG (3.50) Man.City (2.50)22.00: (1.50) RB Leipzig (4.50) Club Brugge (7.25)22.00: (2.95) Milan (3.05) Atl.Madrid (2.75)22.00: (5.00) Porto (3.70) Liverpool (1.80)22.00: (1.47) Dortmund (4.70) Sporting (7.50)22.00: (1.13) Real Madrid (10.0) Sheriff Tiraspol (23.0)Wednesday19.45: (1.50) Atalanta (4.60) Young Boys (7.00)19.45: (1.60) Zenit (4.00) Malmo (6.50)22.00: (1.10) Bayern (13.0) Dynamo Kyiv (25.0)22.00: (2.90) Benfica (3.35) Barcelona (2.60)22.00: (1.55) Man.Utd. (4.30) Villareal (6.75)22.00: (2.05) Salzburg (3.60) Lille (3.80)22.00: (2.95) Wolfsburg (3.20) Sevilla (2.65)22.00: (4.10) Juventus (3.50) Chelsea (2.00)***odds are subject to change
