Champions League Loss Vs Bayer Leverkusen Underlines Fragile Squad Depth At Inter Milan | OneFootball

Tuesday’s Champions League defeat to Bayer Leverkusen underlined a certain fragility in Inter Milan’s squad depth.

This is the view in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews.

There were a number of regular starters absent from Inter’s starting eleven on Tuesday.

These included Nicolo Barella, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Lautaro Martinez, and Federico Dimarco.

That is not necessarily unusual for the Nerazzurri in the Champions League this season.

Inter coach Simone Inzaghi has rotated significantly between domestic and European fixtures.

So far, that has not been a big problem. Prior to Tuesday, Inter had not tasted defeat – or conceded a goal – in Europe.

Players like Piotr Zielinski, Carlos Augusto, and Yann Bisseck showed that they can play at the required level in big matches against teams like Manchester City and Arsenal.

Champions League Loss Vs Bayer Leverkusen Underlines Fragile Inter Squad Depth

On Tuesday, though, it was evident that Inter were missing a few too many key players.

The Nerazzurri struggled to really come to grips with the game. They looked very passive for much of the match.

And a look at the players missing suggests that this was not a coincidence.

Players like Barella and Dimarco are crucial influences on Inter’s possession phase. The players who started in place of them, Davide Frattesi and Carlos Augusto, can’t necessarily boast the same technical quality.

Meanwhile, Inter were also missing some big names in defense due to injury.

Both Benjamin Pavard and Francesco Acerbi were out with muscle problems. And Denzel Dumfries was not in the squad due to illness.

Therefore, the Inter backline started to look overstretched in the closing stages.

There was a worrying parallel to Inter’s round of sixteen loss to Atletico Madrid last season. There, with several defensive injuries, the Nerazzurri reached the end of their rope.