http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Giampaolo-Pazzini-c14802’s late strike was not enough to take the Nerazzurri to the next round as Olympique Marseille cruise to the quarter-finals of Europe.
Inter Milan beat Olympique Marseille 2-1 in the second-leg of the last 16 round of Uefa Champions League at San Siro on Tuesday, March 13.
Despite the home win, Inter crash out of the competition, losing on away goal basis on 2-2 aggregate score. The first-leg ended in a 1-0 victory for the Phoceens a fortnight ago.
Diego Milito opened the scoring for the Nerazzurri in the 75th minute, but Brandao dented their hopes by scoring an equaliser in the 92nd minute. Giampaolo Pazzini’s late strike could not send the Beneamata to the next round as Inter bow out of the competition.
Claudio Ranieri opted for an attacking formation, as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Maicon-c23157 returned to the starting line-up after recovering from injuries.
On the other hand, Loic Remy made a return for the visitors in a 5-4-1 formation. First-leg hero, Andre Ayew, passed a late fitness test to feature in the game.
Inter needed to win by at least two goals to advance to the next round, and their intentions looked very clear. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Javier-Zanetti-c18096 made an inspiring run into the opposition box before feeding Sneijder with a lovely cutback, but Steve Mandanda made a good reaction save to deny the hosts.
The Nerazzurri continued to threaten the opposition, as Mandanda was forced into another brilliant save after Milito was put through on goal by Sneijder.
The Beneamata were clearly the better of the two sides, as they continued to threaten the opposition with constant attacking. However, despite being the better of the two sides, they lacked the killer touch.
Marseille were clearly struggling to get on with the pace of the game, as their goalkeeper was constantly called into action.
Zanetti picked up the first booking of the match in the 24th minute, as he made a poor tackle on Stephane Mbia.
After the early action from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567, things slowed down midway through the first-half, as both teams looked to apply the pressure. Frustration began to creep within the Nerazzurri ranks, as Ranieri started to lose patience with his players, and looked an animated figure on the touchline.
Neither of the two teams created any significant scoring opportunity in the remaining period, as they drew blanks in the first-half.
Recap continued in part 2 of the article
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