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The runaway Serie A leaders saw their hopes of a third European final in four years end in the knockout round of the play-offs after a 2-1 defeat at home to Bodo/Glimt meant a 5-2 aggregate defeat to the Norwegian team.
Earlier in the competition, the Nerazzurri lost 1-0 to the Reds at San Siro, with the goal coming in the dying minutes from a Dominik Szoboszlai penalty. The penalty was awarded after a VAR review showed Alessandro Bastoni pulling Florian Wirtz’s shirt in the penalty area.
That incident infuriated anyone with an Inter support, with even Andy Robertson and Jamie Carragher admitting they would have felt insulted if such a decision had gone against Liverpool.
Barella regrets Liverpool’s penalty in victory over Inter
Speaking to reporters after Inter’s humiliation at the hands of Bodo/Glimt, Barella lamented how that penalty contributed to his team being relegated to the knockout round of the play-offs rather than qualifying directly for the last 16 of the Champions League.
The 29-year-old said (via Transfer market ontranslated from Italian): “This is the difference if you miss one point, because you get a penalty in the ninetieth minute and you don’t progress into the top eight.
“You would have saved yourself two games if you had avoided such a trip They will. This is football and the new Champions League.”
Inter can only blame themselves for the European humiliation
Thinking back to the penalty awarded to Liverpool at the San Siro in December, the decision may have been generous, but Bastoni did not have to pull on Wirtz’s shirt and gave the referees legitimate reasons to intervene.
Furthermore, Inter had eight matches in the league stage to secure direct access to the round of 16, so missing out on a place in the top eight by one point cannot be attributed solely to a single moment in one match. They had two more games after the visit of the Reds to accomplish that mission, but were unable to do so.
A two-legged draw against a team in their debut season in the Champions League who narrowly avoided elimination before the knockout should have been more than achievable for last year’s beaten finalists, but the Nerazzurri were comfortably outmatched by Bodo/Glimt over 180 minutes of football.
Liverpool fans with long memories will certainly have no sympathy for the Milan team after this some hugely controversial referees in the Italian side’s 3–0 home win over the Reds in the 1965 European Cup semi-final, winning 4–3 on aggregate.
Despite Barella being angry about the penalty incident in December, Inter were ultimately beaten by the better side last week and will simply have to take their medicine here.
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