Barella as a liberator, Grimaldo in pain

Tops

Barella sounds the charge

Even if the middle trio at Inter played their match, Nicolo Barella stands out with his attacking contribution compared to Mkhitaryan and Brozovic, also authors of very solid performances. As often, we have seen the best Barella in the Champions League. He hadn’t found the net for five months and made amends by heading in a Bastoni cross to put Inter on the road to success. Very active and often in combat, he was the best player on Tuesday evening.

Onana the last bastion

He did not have a lot of work, well protected by his defense, but he released two life-saving saves. The first where he fends off a vicious strike from Rafa Silva after a bad dismissal from Dimarco and the second, after extra time, where he lies down perfectly on Ramos’ attempt. A job well done.

flops

Grimaldo in trouble

His offensive profile is known to all but his defensive shortcomings are too. Dumfries hurt him badly with a lot of calls behind his back and Benfica’s left-back suffered against Inter’s right-hand side. Alex Grimaldo is involved in the opener of Barella where he is completely taken by the call behind his back from the Italian midfielder. Offensively, he will have tried (four shots) but without success.

Rafa Silva uninspired

We expected a lot from the 29-year-old, a real poison generally for opposing defenses. Positioned behind the striker, Rafa Silva clashed throughout the meeting with the Inter defense and in particular Brozovic, regularly in his area. In the end, he only touched 43 balls in 90 minutes for two small strikes. A balance sheet that is far too meager. Benfica’s top scorer in the competition (five goals) remained silent.