Inter Milan Demolishes Red Star 4-0 for First Champions League Victory

Inter Milan clinched their first victory of this season’s revamped Champions League, defeating Red Star Belgrade 4-0 at the San Siro on Tuesday. Hakan Calhanoglu kicked off the scoring with a spectacular free-kick in the 11th minute amid heavy rain in northern Italy. An hour into the game, Marko Arnautovic netted his first goal of the season.

The team’s captain, Lautaro Martinez, added a third goal in the 71st minute and shortly after earned a penalty. Mehdi Taremi, the Iran forward, took the penalty kick, scoring his first goal for Inter, aided by Martinez who opted to give Taremi the chance to take the shot against Israeli goalkeeper Omri Glazer.

Taremi expressed his gratitude post-match, “I’m glad to score tonight, to play well. Thanks to my teammates. It was great,” he told Sky, adding optimism about Inter’s prospects, “Our goal as a big club is to reach the final, as Inter must try to win every game. We’ll take it step by step.”

This win elevated the Italian champions to four points, placing them among the top eight in the new league phase of the competition, which directly qualifies teams for the last 16, before Wednesday’s matches.

While it’s premature to determine if Inter will bypass the play-offs next year, Simone Inzaghi’s team displayed formidable strength against Red Star, even with seven changes from the lineup that defeated Udinese over the weekend.

Inter had previously shown their resilience in a goalless draw at Manchester City two weeks ago. “It’s a win that we needed after playing well in Manchester, but we need to keep moving in this direction,” Inzaghi remarked.

Meanwhile, Red Star is in a precarious position, ranking 32nd after two consecutive losses. Their coach, Vladan Milojevic, criticized the team’s performance, highlighting costly mistakes, “We gave away four goals… when you make these kinds of errors, you can’t do much else,” he stated.

The match occurred amid a backdrop of recent controversies involving the arrest of prominent members of Inter and AC Milan’s ultra groups. Police detained 19 individuals involved in various illegal activities around matchdays, including extortion and assault, based on “criminal conspiracy aggravated by mafia methods.”

Despite the arrests and inclement weather, the spirit in the Curva Nord section of San Siro remained high, with fans enthusiastically supporting their team throughout the match.

On the field, Inter dominated, with Calhanoglu’s early free-kick setting the tone. Although Arnautovic and Denzel Dumfries had goals disallowed for offside, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan missed opportunities to extend the lead, Inter’s performance was convincing. Taremi played a pivotal role, setting up Arnautovic for the second goal and later assisting Martinez, who returned the favor by allowing Taremi to take the penalty, cementing a solid victory.