UEFA Champions League – half time review: Inter Milan versus F.C Twente
Inter began the match in a ruthless phase as Biabiany whipped in a good ball for Inter’s midfielder Sneijder inside the Twente penalty area. However, the Dutch midfielder was off the mark with his final effort as Rafael Benitez’s men began
the encounter with a positive mentality. Stankovic was the second Inter Milan player to try his luck on target within the first ten minutes. The Italian champions were clearly the better side in the first fifteen minutes of the encounter as they controlled
the tempo of the match in San Siro.
In the 12th minute of the match, Twente got the ball under their control and fashioned open their first opportunity of the match. It was Chadli who found Ruiz inside the Inter Milan penalty area but the Swiss forward
headed the ball wide. It was a chance which was begging for a finishing touch but Twente failed to capitalize on the opportunity as the score line remained at nil all.
In the 16th minute of the first half, Sneijder was again in action for the Italian champions as he found himself in plenty of space outside the Twente penalty area. The Dutchman didn’t need an invitation to shoot
on goal but his shot just shaved the outside of the woodwork and went out of bounds for a corner. It was a magnificent effort by the World Cup finalist who was denied the goal only by the crossbar.
In the 23rd minute of the encounter, Padev was found inside the Twente penalty area by Inter Milan’s defensive midfielder Esteban Cambiasso. The Argentinean midfielder was spot on with his pass as Pandev twisted
and turned to get a shot away on the target, however the effort was saved by Twente’s goalkeeper who expertly held onto the ball.
The European champions, Inter Milan who won the last year’s UEFA Champions League competition under their ex-manager Jose Mourinho, played good possession football in the first half as Twente were clearly played with a negative strategy.
The visitors parked the bus in front of their goal as their main objective was to deny Inter any clear goal scoring opportunities. In the 31st minute of the match, Twente saw a rare sight of Inter Milan’s goal as
Chadli burst into pace down the left hand side of the Dutch team’s attack. Even though Twente had two players free inside the Inter Milan box but Chadli went for glory himself and quite predictably found none as his shot went wide of the mark.
In the 37th minute, Inter’s defence was caught off guard once again as Lucio carelessly surrendered possession inside his own half. Janko came on top for Twente as he caught hold of the ball but his first touch
was a weak one as Inter’s goalkeeper collected the ball with ease. Nonetheless, the first half came to a conclusion with the score line at nil all as Inter Milan failed to take advantage of their superior possession stats.
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