The video referee condemned Inter for a superfluous grab by Bastoni and an obvious exaggeration by Wirtz, and thus, with a penalty declared in an evidently arbitrary manner, an inane match concluded, a collection of defensive bureaucratic activities, a mess. Liverpool won thanks to that penalty and the 1-0 at San Siro alleviated the political, institutional and administrative crisis when this Sunday he publicly accused the club and its coach of betrayal for depriving him of ownership three times in a row. The victory reduces the pressure and media noise and practically ensures qualification to the next round of the Champions League thanks to the 12 points added.
0
Yann Sommer, Manuel Akanji, Alessandro Bastoni, Francesco Acerbi (Yann Bisseck, min. 30), Hakan Çalhanoglu (Piotr Zielinski, min. 10), Luis Henrique, Federico Dimarco (Carlos Augusto, min. 82), Nicolò Barella, Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Petar Sucic, min. 82), Marcus Thuram (Ange-Yoan Bonny, min. 82) and Lautaro Martínez
1
Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez (Conor Bradley, min. 67), Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Curtis Jones, Alexis MacAllister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexander Isak (Florian Wirtz, min. 67) and Hugo Ekitiké
Goals
0-1 min. 87: Dominik Szoboszlai
Referee Felix Zwayer
yellow cards
Lautaro Martínez (min. 12), Hugo Ekitike (min. 38), Mkhitaryan (min. 56), Curtis Jones (min. 72), Alessandro Bastoni (min. 86)
We do not know if Salah will stop blackmailing Liverpool one day, involved as the Egyptian has been, for years, in the constant demand for salary increases and acquired rights in exchange for his goals. It also does not seem clear that his working relationship with the club has a future, given the succulent offers that tempt him from Saudi Arabia and how much the owners have supported the challenged coach. What cannot be fixed, at the moment, is Liverpool’s game.
After almost 500 million in signings in a single summer, the current Premier League champion is plummeting: conflicts multiply and of its florid attack only the dry and defoliated branches of the centers into the pot remain, the shots from outside the area and the consequent rebounds, hands, pushes, grabs and other fortuitous events that the human eye does not register. We must resort to the 40 VAR cameras to clarify the facts. That happened at San Siro. Twice.
The VAR annulled a goal by Joe Gómez in the first half after five minutes of analysis by a team of referees that finally delegated to the main Felix Zwayer. Zwayer ruled that the goal was worthless because, who had extended a corner at the penalty spot, he had touched the ball with his hand. The images were inconclusive. But something had to be done and Zwayer did it. Back to 0-0 and the tedium of general incapacity.
Two soccer teams confront a bunch of athletes. More than 30 players per game. Young people mostly. Agile, fast, cunning. Everyone in the Champions League is rich. They are luckier if they wear the uniforms of the . Life smiles at them and the spectacle becomes absurd when the pressure exceeds the circulation and little by little everyone manifests a keen awareness of their inability. They cannot put their ideas in order while overcoming obstacles with their feet. They are overwhelmed by the sphericity of the ball. They cannot coordinate other than to hinder, block, collide, hit. It is a sad spectacle of order and sterility. Slightly obscene when it involves exhibitionism and the congregation of 70,000 people who, like penitents, pay attention to the void.
Ni Wirk
For 88 minutes, the game was a song of frustration. Even against Inter’s punished defense, deprived of Ascerbi and Calhanoglu due to injury in the first half, Liverpool got stuck. Nobody moved forward until again, a tiny, banal fact, imperceptible to the human eye, required the examination of the product offered by the 40 VAR cameras. The selection showed Bastoni pinching Wirtz’s shirt in the Inter box for a moment, before releasing it, at which point the German conspicuously dropped.
Witz, who cost 136 million euros last summer, came off the bench. He had been on the field for a few minutes and his contribution had not produced anything of value, in the same line as Isak, who cost 140 million and had been replaced after an hour of desolation.
Feliz Zwayer decided to call a penalty in the same way that an hour before he decided to annul the goal, without the images clearly showing the typified facts. And so, with 1-0 and 12 points in the standings, Liverpool returned to England to reunite with Salah, their punished star.
