Arsenal sweeps Madrid aside as Inter completes epic win in Munich

The UEFA Champions League quarterfinals kicked off with two great matches and historic results. In London, at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal played one of the best games in its continental history, overwhelming the king of the competition, Real Madrid, with a solid and uncontested 3-0 win. In Munich, at the Allianz Arena, Inter Milan repeated their feat of the 2010-2011 season, when, on the hour, the Milanese side eliminated Bayern Munich with an iconic goal by the Macedonian Goran Pandev. On this occasion, Italy's Davide Frattesi burned the home side's net late in the game, gifting Simone Inzaghi's side a vital advantage ahead of the return leg next week.

Rice, Pernambucano-like

Arsenal, who have shown consistency in the Champions League that has not been seen in the Premier League, approached the match against Real Madrid as if there was no tomorrow. In the most English style, with a lot of intensity and pressure, Arteta's team opted for a high pace of the game, trying to make the midfield more of a transit area than a gestation area.

The plan, which was underpinned to a large extent by the great dynamics of their midfielders and wingers, worked like a charm. Saka and Martinelli, who always played one-on-one with Alaba and Valverde, were two hammers on their flanks while being protected by the tandem Partey-Rice and their captain, Martin Ødegaard, who had one of his best performances of the season.

Despite dominating a confused Madrid, Arsenal always found themselves up against a great Courtois, who was again signing a brilliant performance in an adverse context. The Belgian's saves were so decisive that even Mbappé had two chances in the first half to open the scoring, but his shots were not accurate, finding the goalkeeper David Raya or going over the goal defended by the Spaniard.

While Arsenal flowed and positioned themselves quickly on the edge of the box, Madrid failed to rest with the ball, forcing Vinicius, Mbappé, Bellingham and Rodrygo to make long runs without close teammates to link up with. With Modric and Camavinga outclassed and without the energy of Valverde in the middle, Ancelotti's team was once again a long, thick, and, above all, not very compact team, repeating the sins of almost the entire season.

Meanwhile, Arsenal only lacked the goal, which came unexpectedly at 58': a free kick by Declan Rice.

The English midfielder, who had never scored from a direct free kick in his career, took responsibility for a shot that seemed ideal for a left-footed player at first sight. Hitting dryly to the outside of the ball, the ball took an impressive curl outside the wall, slipping inside Courtois' far post and causing the gunners fans to erupt.

Twelve minutes later, in the moments of greatest anxiety, the same executioner, with confidence sky-high, turned into Juninho Pernambucano, hitting a similar long-range shot but more angled to the left of Courtois' post. The ball, less curling than the first free kick, was buried in the top right corner, leaving the Belgian with no chance and sending Madrid crashing to the canvas. The Emirates and the world were left speechless by Rice's masterpiece, who chose the most important day to prove that he also hits the ball well, in addition to having a great run.

Then, Mikel Merino, the Spanish midfielder converted to striker by Arteta, sealed the gunner's goal with a stunning strike that was overshadowed by Rice's goals.

Merino, positioning himself in the very center of the box, gave a half-turn by slanting the ball to where not even Courtois could stretch. Madrid, wholly absorbed by the English, could not react and was left on the brink of elimination in a fateful and magnificent half hour from an Arsenal side that had never before been so brilliant in the Champions League.

Inter, rebuilding their era

In the other match of the day, the leaders of Italian and German soccer played against each other amid a plague of injuries that affected both teams.

The game was a bit different. Both teams presented two diametrically opposed tactical proposals and shared the game's dominance for several passages.

Bayern Munich started with the most momentum, imposing their conditions on Inter.

Through Olise's feet, Kimmich's leadership, and Kane's movements, Bayern put Sommer and the last line of Inter, who played a practically perfect game in Germany, in trouble.

Kane had, in fact, the clearest chance in the first half-hour of the match after Pavard committed one of the few neroazzurri mistakes all day. However, the Englishman opened his foot too wide in front of the Swiss Sommer, and the ball was spat into the goal kick after hitting the crossbar.

After that play, Inter started to grow in the match, thanks to Barella first and Bastoni later.

Barella began to take the ball, giving Inter oxygen, and Bastoni, perhaps the most technically gifted central defender in the world, was a constant attacking outlet on the left side. From the growth of these two players, Inter began to circulate the ball better, feeding the attacking duo Thuram-Lautaro and provoking the desperation of a Bayern who saw how their high tempo and high pressing faded before the neroazzurra structure.

Carlos Augusto, the replacement for Dimarco, was in charge of finishing Inter's first great move of the match, finishing to the outside of the net.

Then, after a great pass from Bastoni, the Brazilian winger himself put in a low cross to the penalty spot for Thuram. The Frenchman, more lucid than the Bavarian defenders, tapped the ball stiffly on the penalty spot for his teammate Martinez, who, with the outside of his right foot, sent the ball into an area uncatchable for the young goalkeeper Urbig.

Had it not been for Rice's goals, perhaps this Inter goal would also have gone around the world because of the individual and collective technical quality of the action.

From then on, Inter outplayed Bayern and could have scored on several more occasions. However, the introduction of the veteran Thomas Müller gave the home side a boost, and they persistently managed to equalize in the 85th minute, thanks to the undetectable appearance of Müller, who changed the course of the game.

This time, however, the changes smiled not only on Kompany but also on Inzaghi, who, despite the absence of Dimarco and Dumfries, managed to bring on Davide Frattesi, a midfielder who had recently had personal problems due to the death of his grandmother.

Frattesi, unable to earn a starting place in the Italian team this season, crushed forward with conviction and accompanied a superb counter-attack initiated by Barella and Lautaro. Again, Carlos Augusto broke free on the left, and Frattesi, who came in like a bull, stretched his leg for Inter's last-minute win in Munich, just like Pandev in the 2010-2011 season.

After the match, Frattesi said that his grandmother probably shouted the goal from heaven, accompanying him in a move that may mark his career at Inter Milan.