Valery Gladilin, once a football player and coach with Moscow’s Spartak, offered thoughts on Inter Milan’s exit from the Champions League at the semifinal stage. In the quarterfinals, Inter overcame Benfica with a 2-0 win in the first leg and a 3-3 draw in the return, sealing progression to the semifinals. Gladilin argued that Milan carried a notably comfortable lead after the initial encounter, a margin that teams rarely squander once it is established. He suggested that something must have gone wrong for Inter to fail to advance given such momentum, speculating that either an unfortunate turn of events or misjudgment of the opponent could be at play, though he did not see that flaw in Inter here. Inter had set their sights on lifting the European Cup and, with a strong squad, aimed to win the tournament, Gladilin noted to socialbites.ca.
Looking ahead to the semifinals, fans anticipate a Milan derby as Inter confronts Milan, a matchup that follows Milan’s earlier elimination of another Italian side, Napoli. The other semifinal pairing features Real Madrid against Manchester City. Madrid managed to beat Chelsea by two goals in both legs, while Manchester City defeated Bayern Munich 3-0 in the first leg and settled for a 1-1 draw in the second.
Dmitry Bulykin, a former striker of the Russian national team, commented that had Bayern found the back of the net first in the second leg, the tie might have swung in their favor, offering a glimmer of hope and a reminder of how the margins can shift quickly in knockout football.