Inter drop to Europa League
▶ Icardi shines but can’t save fallen Italian giants
Mauro Icardi rescued a 1-1 draw for Inter Milan against PSV Eindhoven in Tuesday’s final group game but it proved not enough as the Italian giants crashed out of the European Champions League.
“One player doesn’t make a team,” said coach Luciano Spalletti after Inter’s first foray into Europe’s elite competition for more than six years ended prematurely.
The Serie A side needed to better Tottenham Hotspur’s result at Barcelona to leapfrog the Premier League side and snatch a place in the knockout rounds.
Inter thought they had done enough in the 73rd minute when captain Icardi marked his 200th game for the club by equalizing Hirving Lozano’s 13th-minute opener, with Spurs a goal down at the Camp Nou.
However Lucas Moura leveled at 1-1 for Tottenham after 85 minutes, enabling his team to advance to the last 16 thanks to the away goal Christian Eriksen scored in their 2-1 defeat at the San Siro giving them a superior head to head record after Inter’s 1-0 defeat in the return at Wembley.
It was a bitter exit for the team that last qualified for the Champions league in the 201112 after winning the last of their three Champions League titles in 2010 under Jose Mourinho.
“We got nervous, lost too many balls, created disorder at the tactical level and tension set in,” said Spalletti whose side drop into the Europa League.
Inter started brightly against already eliminated PSV, with Ivan Perisic clipping the post after five minutes.
But the Dutch broke through following a monstrous blunder by midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah. The Ghanaian was caught in possession by Steven Bergwijn, with the ball flying across the face of goal for Lozano to nod in.
PSV goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet denied Icardi, Stefan de Vrij and Keita Balde before the Argentine equalized midway through the second half, meeting a cross from Matteo Politano at the far post.
The 25-year-old Icardi became the first player to score in each of his first three Champions League home games for Inter, with his 119th goal since arriving from Sampdoria five years ago.
After news of Moura’s 85th-minute equalizer filtered through, Inter desperately piled forward for the winner with Lautaro Martinez coming closest as he headed over to the despair of the 62,635 crowd.
“We let ourselves be carried away by tensions, by the public mood,” Spalletti added after the goals from their rivals’ game were broadcast in the stadium.
“How do you hide the result of your opponents? The public cheer. We had to have more balance, not to become frantic.”
It was a further blow for Inter after losing 1-0 to Juventus in Turin in Friday to fall 14 points behind the Italian champions in Serie A.