Barcelona had already booked their place in the UEFA Champions League 2019-20, Inter Milan, on the other hand, had to win to qualify for the next round.
Barcelona's French defender Samuel Umtiti (C) and teammates acknowledge the public at the end of the UEFA Champions League Group F football match Inter Milan vs Barcelona on December 10, 2019 at the San Siro stadium in Milan. (Photo by Isabella BONOTTO / AFP)
A second-string Barcelona side defeated Inter Milan 2-1 in a Group F match at the San Siro Stadium in Milan to send the latter out of the ongoing Champions League. Carles Perez scored one before Teenage prodigy Ansu Fati became the youngest-ever player to score in the European competition.
🔵🔴 Record breaker! Ansu Fati becomes the youngest goalscorer in #UCL history 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/NBegn92een
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 10, 2019
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Barcelona had already booked their place and left Lionel Messi at home. Inter, on the other hand, had to win to qualify for the next round, given that Borussia Dortmund defeated Slavia Praha in the other game.
Perez, who was making his debut, put the Catalan giants ahead in the 23rd minute after he was found delicately by Arturo Vidal.
Romelu Lukaku brought parity into the game right ahead of the first half. However, it was Lautaro Martinez who did all the hard work to hold the ball and wait for support until the Belgian came in to see the back of the net.
Fati scored the late goal of the night in the 86th minute to put the final nail in Inter’s coffin. The host had all the reasons to blame their stars for their first-round exit after Lukaku and Martinez saw their three goals being ruled out by offside.
“We had a few problems at the beginning because they put us under pressure, but little by little we managed to come out better. The scorers were young players, even very young for Ansu, who is a born scorer. It’s a matter of pride that it’s a player who is from our team. We want to win the Champions League, like the others,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde was quoted as saying by AFP after the match.
The Italians ran through Barca defence on a regular basis in the opening minutes of the match and had the game in control. But they lost the momentum after the hour mark and conceded a late goal as they failed to qualify for the Champions League knockouts since 2011-12.
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