Inter Milan were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League 2021/22 by Liverpool after the tie ended 2-1 in favor of the English club. The defending Italian champions lost their first leg of the Round-of-16 match at home by a scoreline of 0-2. They went on to hand Liverpool their first defeat of the season at Anfield but were unable to get past their opponents into the next round. Inter Milan failed to capitalize on their chances, and this led to their exit from the competition. Their attack was their biggest concern, as Inter were one of the best attacking teams in the group stage of the competition.
Inter Milan suffered a 0-2 defeat against Liverpool at the San Siro Stadium. The hosts had 49% of the ball in possession and created 19 positional attacks. The overall xG rate of the team was 0.41. From the above viz, we can observe that Inter Milan attempted eight shots, and none of them were on target. Of these eight shots, four were attempted from inside the opposition’s penalty box.
Inter Milan had 40% of the ball at Anfield and launched 17 positional attacks. The Italian club attempted only five shots in the match, and two of them were on target. A total of three shots were attempted from outside the opposition’s penalty box, and two of them were on target. Once again, the team had a low xG rate of 0.44.
The above shot map shows the shots attempted by all the teams in the UEFA Champions League this season. Inter Milan attempted 124 shots and averaged 15.5 shots per match. In the group stages, Inter Milan attempted 111 shots and averaged 18.5 shots per match. Of the 124 shots attempted, Inter managed to hit the target on 39 occasions with a 31.45% shot accuracy rate. Earlier, the shot accuracy rate was 0.33, and Inter averaged around six shots on target per game. Simone Inzaghi’s men failed to hit the target and they also created fewer threats in front of the goal.
Inter Milan created 233 positional attacks and averaged 27.7 positional attacks per 90. In these two matches, Inter Milan created 36 positional attacks – 18 positional attacks per match. Earlier, the team averaged around 33 positional attacks per match. The Italian side failed to create enough attacks and attempted fewer shots than they did in the previous game.
Inter Milan’s attack let them down in the two-legged tie against Liverpool. They were unable to create enough chances and failed to convert their opportunities on the pitch. The number of shot attempts decreased, and the number of positional attacks also decreased. This led to their downfall and their elimination from the competition.
