On Tuesday, the football fans' attention turned towards the start of the new 2018-19 UEFA Champions League season. At 19:55 Lithuanian time, the first two matches in Group B were played.
The showdown at the "San Siro" stadium between Milan's "Inter" and London's "Tottenham" garnered the most attention. At the end of the match, with a dramatic 2-1 victory, the fashion capital's footballers marked their return to the tournament with a strong performance.
From the beginning of the match, neither team was willing to give up without a fight - a fairly intense match dominated with many missed chances.
The first half produced no goals, with both teams ending the first 45 minutes goalless. The action then moved to the second half, where there was no shortage of goals or drama.
In the 53rd minute, "Tottenham" took the lead with a goal from Christian Eriksen. It was difficult to imagine that "Inter" would respond with two goals.
Hopes of victory for the "Inter" team were revived in the 85th minute - after a pass from Kwadwo Asamoah, Mauro Icardi scored a stunning goal from about 20 meters out, beating Michel Vorm in goal.
After the goal, "Inter" was determined not to settle for a draw - under Luciano Spalletti's guidance, the team continued to pressure the opponents from London. In the 92nd minute, the worst-case scenario unfolded for the English side, as Matias Vecino, left unmarked in the penalty area, sealed the dramatic victory for the "Nerazzurri" eleven with a header.
In the other group match where "Barcelona" faced PSV Eindhoven at home, the Catalans celebrated an easy victory. Lionel Messi destroyed the Dutch side with a "hat-trick," leading to a crushing 4-0 victory.
In this match, L. Messi started his tally from the first referee's whistle. He scored the first goal in the 31st minute with a fantastic penalty kick. The advantage was increased in the 74th minute with a spectacular performance from Ousmane Dembele.
After three goals, L. Messi scored another. In the 79th minute, despite being reduced to ten men, "Barca" didn't stop L. Messi from completing his "hat-trick" - by the 87th minute, he had already scored three times. The Argentine became the player with the most "hat-tricks" in Champions League history.
Results:
"Inter" 2 - 1 "Tottenham" 53' [0 - 1] C. Eriksen 85' [1 - 1] M. Icardi 90+2' [2 - 1] M. Vecino
"Barcelona" 4 - 0 PSV 31' [1 - 0] L. Messi 74' [2 - 0] O. Dembele 77' [3 - 0] L. Messi 87' [4 - 0] L. Messi 79' S. Umtiti ("Barcelona") sent off from the field
