Leverkusen battle to victory over Inter Milan as Mukiele nets dramatic winner
Bayer Leverkusen snatched victory in the most remarkable of circumstances as Xavi Alonso's side emulated the miracles of last season when Nordi Mukiele netted a 90th-minute winner. Inter Milan, who had kept five consecutive clean sheets in the conpetition prior to tonight, posed a teak tough opponent standing in their way. In the end, Leverkusen fought tooth and nail for three vital points as they remain comfortably on track to qualify directly to the last-eight of Europe's premier competition.
In what was a lively but ultimately scoreless first-half, Bayer Leverkusen made a sharp start when Nathan Tella rattled the crossbar with a 3rd-minute volley. Former Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer was kept on his toes as all three of Alejandro Grimaldo, Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka took aim from range at different stages. Aside from Mehdi Taremi's blocked shot, Inter Milan struggled to find a foothold in the final third. Plenty on show to satisfy Xabi Alonso at the break despite nothing to separate the teams.
The Italian visitors seemed content to sit in after the break and invite Leverkusen pressure. Some neat dribbling from Florian Wirtz opened up space for Jeremie Frimpong to pull the trigger, however the acute angle got the better of the marauding wing-back. After another long-range effort from Tah on this occasion, Inzaghi opted for a triple substitution. Çalhanoğlu, Frattesi, and Thuram all made way for Asllani, Barella and Lautaro Martinez up top.
Die Werkself continued to press forward in search of the breakthrough. A vital tackle from Stefan de Vrij kept the Inter Milan defence watertight as the game neared it's conclusion. It seemed inevitable that the Italian club would continue their remarkable clean sheet run in the Champions League until the Leverkusen pressure eventually told. Alejandro Grimaldo's low delivery met Terrier who unintentionally broke the ball for Nordi Mukiele to thrash home and send the BayArena into raptures.
