Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Inter Milan: Talking points as Mukeile grabs late Werkself winner

Having struggled to break through Inter Milan’s resolute defence, Bayer Leverkusen managed to secure all three points through a late winner by Nordi Mukiele to strengthen their position in the Champions League group standings.

The teams

Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso had to make do without his two preferred strikers, with Victor Boniface unavailable and Patrick Schick only fit to make the bench. Jonas Hofmann and Amine Adli were absent as well.

Matej Kovar was in goal. Jonathan Tah and Edmond Tapsoba formed the centre-back partnership, flanked by Mukiele and Piero Hincapie. Exequiel Palacios was selected to start ahead of Robert Andrich and partner Granit Xhaka in the middle of the park. Nathan Tella led the attacking line, with the trio of Jeremie Frimpong, Alex Grimaldo and Florian Wirtz in support.

As for the visitors, boss Simone Inzaghi was without defenders Benjamin Pavard and Francesco Acerbi.

With Yann Sommer in goal, the back line was formed by the trio of Alessandro Bastoni, Stefan de Vrij and Yann Biseck. Hakan Calhanoglu was tasked with dictating play from the middle of the park, joined by Piotr Zielinski and Davide Frattesi. Matteo Darmian and Carlos Augusto provided with as the wing-backs. Mehdi Taremi joined Marcus Thuram up front, with Lautaro Martinez consigned to the bench.

The game recap

Leverkusen obviously fancied themselves in this contest from the start, and they imposed control over the proceedings straight away. Their domination lasted practically from the first to the final whistle, resulting in their control of the ball for 61% of the total game time. They also fired goalwards 12 times in total, hitting the target on five occasions, while the visitors took just three shots without forcing a single save from Kovar.

However, this apparent imbalance seemed to suit Inter very well. Though Darmian and Augusto spent most of their time helping the three defenders form a back line of five, their defensive structure was well-organized, and for all of Bayer’s domination, the home side couldn’t create a single chance to score. There were one or two promising moments, but once inside the final third, the Bundesliga champions constantly found their way blocked.

But at the very end, the extremely defensive approach came back to haunt the visitors. Minute 90 had just started when Leverkusen took a corner from the right. It was initially cleared by Bisseck, but Wirtz put it back in the box and after a bit of a scramble, the ball fell kindly for Mukiele at seven or eight yards and the defender smashed it into the back of the net, winning the game for his team.

Inzaghi’s mistake

Mukiele’s goal proved that Inzaghi was wrong to expect his defenders not to lose focus before the end of the match, having endured tremendous pressure throughout. There was very little threat at the other end, and it did seem like the Inter coach felt things had gone too far by the middle of the second half. He freshened his team with Federico Dimarco, Lautaro Martinez, Nicolo Barella, Kristjan Asllani, and eventually Marko Arnautovic, but with the home side properly fired up and not ready to relinquish their hold over the game, it made very little difference.

The Nerazzuri lost the ball in their own half far too many times, and consequently failed to cause any serious problems for the Leverkusen defence.

It will likely prove a lesson for Inzaghi, and he won’t lightly have his team yield possession in such a way any time soon against any opposition.

Table rankings

Both Leverkusen and Inter are now on 13 points, sharing the tally with Aston Villa and Brest, but all four teams could be overtaken within 24 hours by Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal or Monaco, all of whom play their respective matches of the sixth round on Wednesday. Liverpool are out of reach for any of them at the moment, topping the table with a maximum of 18 points from six matches.

For Leverkusen and Inter, the focus shifts on domestic affairs. Inter face Lazio in Rome on Sunday, and Leverkusen travel to face Augsburg on the same day.