Inter Milan threw away a 2-0 half-time lead as a boisterous Borussia Dortmund bamboozled the Italians with a brilliant second half fightback to win 3-2 in the Champions League.
Just as he had done in Italy, Lautaro Martinez’s brilliance broke the deadlock – the Argentine latching on to a long ball and leaving Mats Hummels for dead out wide before drifting in and drilling a finish past Roman Burki.
He was the architect of the second too, spraying a delightful ball out wide to Antonio Candreva, his expert centre swept home brilliantly by Matias Vecino.
Roles were totally reversed after the break though as Dortmund mounted a magnificent fightback.
Intricate play saw Achraf Hakimi’s scrappy finish creep in and that sparked a barrage of BVB pressure. It was 2-2 in a flash as Julian Brandt pounced on a mistake to fire a pinpoint finish past Samir Handanovic. And the electric Hakimi then fired in the winner when he played a neat one-two with Jadon Sancho.
Here’s how we rated the Inter players:
⚫️🔵 Lautaro Martínez in Group F:
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Samir Handanovic 8: Was imperious in the reverse leg and thwarted Gotze here as dangerous Dortmund threatened. Kept his side in it on more than one occasion, let down by dfence.
Stefan de Vrij 6: Sharp and alert to Dortmund’s threat – he had to be, leading his side in clearances. Overworked though in second half.
Milan Skriniar 5: Almost made it 2-0 at one end with fierce strike, hauled Hakimi down at the other to earn cynical yellow. Erratic pass led to Hazard chance. Summed up his evening.
Diego Godin 6: Typically committed in the tackle and threw himself into his work – there was plenty to do as hosts turned it on.
Marcelo Brozovic 7: Impish skill got him free of two Dortmund markers to spark the move for 2-0. A little like Vecino, that was one of few bright moments.
Antonio Candreva 7: Got forward with verve, delivered ball on a plate for Vecino. Stupidly booked for trying to wrestle Weigl to the ground.
Nicolo Barella 6: Patrolled in front of defence diligently, alert to increasing Dortmund danger, although he had too many fires to put out in the second half.
Matias Vecino 6: Late run into the box and unnerving accuracy on sweeping shot to guide Inter into a 2-0 lead. But a passing accuracy of 65.4 was horrendous, hooked as Inter tried to hold on to their lead.
Cristiano Biraghi 4: In for a tough night after early yellow. Replaced by Lazaro after a lot of industry but no ingenuity.
Lautaro Martinez 8: Scored at the San Siro, this one was even better. Driving run and showed great poise to rifle Inter in front. Superb switch of play out to Candreva on the right led to 2-0.
Romelu Lukaku 5: A handful for the home defence, which was more than he offered at home. Hit the post when offside but faded into obscurity after the break.
SUBS
Valentino Lazaro 6: Busied himself in defence but hard to stop the swathes of Dortmund attacks.
Stefano Sensi 6: Instilled to keep calm but after chaos ensued, pushed up and fired straight at Burki late on.
Matteo Politano 6: Almost forced off minutes after entering after catching Schulz’s studs. One key pass but little else.
