The good that lies in a defeat: five reasons why Inter shouldn’t cry even if the Champions League belongs to Manchester City

The Manchester City he won his first Champions League by beating 1-nil Inter in the final of Istanbul. Rodri’s goal comes around halfway through the second half. Inter waste the chances they have with Lukaku, they have an unconvincing Lautaro Martinez and take the crossbar with Dimarco. It ends with the players in tears and the fans thanking them anyway. From here we start to tell the five reasons why we need to take this defeat well.

The curve

The support from the Inter fans was constant and strong, a beautiful choreography with the word Inter, flags waving even when the match was lost. Commendable.

Lack of superiority

There superiority much praised of the City has not been such in the field. Inter didn’t finalize the chances they had, but it almost never seemed that the English had the game decisively in hand.

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Path

The journey counts and that of the Nerazzurri’s Champions League was beautiful and unexpected. In September, no one would have bet on Inter in the final, but instead Inzaghi’s team got there and played for it. The summary is by Dimarco: «What we have done must be a starting point. There is so much disappointment but also so much pride. We gave 120%, it wasn’t enough. That’s okay, the strongest team, built to win the Champions League, won. This group deserves so much, even here we deserved more. On the other hand, we’re happy because we’ve made a great journey anyway».

First time

The first victory in the Champions League for a team is always beautiful and City had never won despite the billions invested, the fact that they did it with a team that, economically, has a much lower value than theirs increases the merit of the Nerazzurri.

Pep Guardiola, in his third Champions League, but who just didn’t seem to be able to win it here: «I congratulate Inter», he said to the microphones of Sky, «they are very strong, but I knew it. I know how they feel, I was there two years ago, but they must think they are the second strongest team in Europe, that’s no small thing. They must know. Physically they are very strong, we couldn’t play our game. Italian football is always the same, with three finalists in Europe, it cannot be a coincidence. Do you still see yourself far from the Premier League? But you have to travel, go out to understand, we always tend to speak too badly of ourselves. Instead, every country has its own particularity, but I see things from Inter, Napoli and Milan, especially last year, which makes me say “These are good”».

The homage

Just Guardiola greeting his opponents, all of City paying homage to Inter. Rodri’s words are enough: «What a team Inter are, the way they defend and attack is exceptional. We had to give everything.” The (re)starting point is here.