How Inzaghi utilized Dumfries to perfection against Barcelona’s highline | OneFootball

Inter Milan and Barcelona have just produced one of the best two-legged ties you are ever going to see, scoring 13 goals across their two games played, going to extra time with a 93rd minute equaliser from 37-year-old Francesco Acerbi, before Simone Inzaghi’s side found the winner in the 99th minute through substitute, Davide Frattesi.

Inzaghi’s men held just 29% possession at the San Siro over the 120 minutes played, but still managed to generate 2.28 xG, creating four “big chances” from 13 shots, scoring four times in the match.

Meanwhile, Flick’s side held a whopping 71% possession away from home, generating slightly more xG than Inter Milan with 2.74, creating six “big chances”, taking 22 shots but only scoring three times.

Inter Milan were absolutely superb in the first half, scoring two goals from 1.66 xG generated whilst limiting Barcelona to just 0.58 xG from six shots. Inzaghi changed the pressing structure going into this game, looking to force Barcelona down their left side, limiting Lamine Yamal’s touches and influence on the game.

In the first half, Yamal managed just 31 touches, with those touches coming much further forward due to Inter Milan forcing Barcelona to build down their left side before switching play over to Yamal, giving Di Marco time to get 0ut to him and be aggressive, giving away fouls but keeping the young Spaniard at bay.

Throughout the game, Barcelona stuck to their guns pressing high and playing with a high line, which was clearly something Inter Milan had worked on throughout the week, looking to play fast passes forward between the central defenders in order to generate their attacks.

Whilst this saw Inter Milan take a 2-0 lead, going in 5-3 up on aggregate at the half-time break, this tactic to keep Yamal quiet was always going to be tough to carry out for the entire 90 minutes, which brings us on to an enthralling second half!

All three of Barcelona’s goals came in the second half of this game, Eric Garcia finding the net after 54 minutes, Dani Olmo finding another six minutes later and Raphinha scoring what he thought was the winner after 87 minutes played.

Inzaghi’s side were unable to keep Yamal from impacting the game, clearly struggling with the physical demands going into the second half, which saw the 17-year-old magician begin to find those touches, ending the game with 124 touches and a whopping 14 take-ons completed from his 20 attempted in the entirety of the match.

With Yamal beginning to get touches, play started to tilt towards his side of the pitch, allowing Raphinha to push higher and central from his left-wing position, pinning both Denzel Dumfries and Yann Bisseck in the backline, which gave Gerard Martin (left-back) acres of space to pick out crosses into the box when the ball was switched to his side, leading to both Garcia’s and Olmo’s goals.

At this point, Barcelona were in the ascendency holding all the momentum, whilst Inter Milan were looking dead on their feet. Raphinha’s 87th minute goal looked sure to be the winner, but Inter Milan’s hero over this two-legged tie was heavily involved once more, delivering the assist for Acerbi’s 93rd minute equaliser.

Denzel Dumfries scored two and assisted three of the seven Inter Milan goals across the two matches, playing a huge part in his sides success. The 29-year-old pulled it across goal for Lautaro Martinez’s opener in the 21st minute, after breaking the Barcelona high line with a clever run between the central defenders.

But it was his 93rd minute involvement that encapsulates his performance over both legs, making an overlapping run in the dying embers of the game to receive the ball from Thuram, driving a cross into the box which Acerbi finished off in brilliant fashion.

Dumfries not only provided two assists in the game, but also made four key passes, completed two of his three crosses and won six out of his nine ground duels, completing two take-ons and winning two tackles, showing his engine to impact the game at both ends.

Whether Inter Milan face PSG or Arsenal in the Champions League final, Denzel Dumfries is likely to be key once more, both dropping in to a solid back five to absorb pressure, but also breaking at pace to offer himself as an attacking outlet to devastating effect, as shown by his performances against Barcelona.