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The Italian media is far from happy with the penalty that saw Liverpool beat Inter Milan in the Champions League - but Cristian Chivu’s side doesn’t escape some blunt criticism for its disappointing performance.
Liverpool picked up a much-needed victory at the San Siro on Tuesday as Dominik Szoboszlai’s late spot kick eased some of the pressure on Arne Slot after a turbulent few days, and strengthened the Reds’ hopes of a top-eight finish in the league phase.
There was plenty of controversy around the awarding of the penalty though, with referee Felix Zwayer sent to the screen by VAR after Alessandro Bastoni had pulled Florian Wirtz’s shirt, with the German making the most of the defender’s intervention.
Inter players and management were left raging at the officials after the game, but the consensus among the Italian media seems to be that the hosts deserved nothing more out of the game - even if Liverpool’s winner remains contentious.
Gazzetta dello Sport reported: “The final harassment of German referee Zwayer for his playful invention a few minutes earlier, featuring a desperate and flailing Lautaro and a yellow card for Kolarov in the mix, was fully justified, but the true Inter was almost never seen against Liverpool, even before the casus belli: the Reds are nowhere near the diabolical machine of last season, but even Inter lacked the same boldness as last Saturday, even against their smaller rival.
“The penalty kindly awarded to Szoboszlai poisoned the super Champions League tie and changed the outlook, as well as the result, but in the end, once again, Chivu's Nerazzurri ended a big match with nothing. This one hurt even more than the others for the 75,000 disappointed fans at San Siro, precisely because of the refereeing axe.
“But there must be a deeper reason why, in five matches against opponents of equal caliber, Chivu's men never finished with even a single point in their bag. Their Italian campaign was accompanied by a European one, and their Serie A defeats were followed by those in the Champions League, and thus the big question mark of the season was laid bare: the Nerazzurri can't think of themselves as winners if they can't also dominate in direct clashes.”
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Corriere della Sera also bemoaned the hosts’ performance, saying: “Another late insult, just like in Madrid: Inter once again found a way to hurt themselves, just shy of a crucial draw, on top of a tense match against Liverpool.
“The winner was a superb penalty two minutes from time, in which Bastoni (also involved in Atletico's 2-1 win) was naive in yanking Wirtz's shirt, which served no purpose. The German made a dramatic fall, and his compatriot Zwayer, called upon by VAR, took the bait without a fight.
“Thus, the Nerazzurri's chances of getting closer to the round of 16 vanished from under their feet, stuck on 12 points: now, against Arsenal and Dortmund at the end of January, they need at least a win to qualify for the G8 and avoid the playoffs in February.”
Meanwhile, Calciomercato slammed Bastoni for his involvement in the decisive moment, writing: “Another beating. Or rather, another 'Bastonata,' with the inverted commas and the capital letter that reminds us of the defender's penchant for defeat.
“In Madrid, he failed to contain Gimenez's volley in the 93rd minute, this time he committed the penalty in the 88th minute. Ultimately, Bastoni was involved in both decisive incidents.
“And it's true — it should be said clearly, of course — that the VAR decision seems like a glaring error in favor of Liverpool. But it's equally true that Bastoni was careless (in the sense of naive), just as his holding seemed careless.”
Liverpool’s win takes it level with Inter on 12 points after six games, as well as Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, although with the race for the top eight remaining tight, the Reds still have plenty of work to do in their remaining games against Marseille and Qarabag if they’re to qualify directly for the last-16.
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