Inter’s Champions League week has turned sharply darker: two games, two defeats, and a Giuseppe Meazza left to absorb another painful European collapse as Club Brugge won 4-3 in Milan. After losing at the Bernabéu, Cristian Chivu’s Italian champions needed a home response, but instead found themselves exposed by a fearless Belgian side and a three-goal display from Nicolò Tresoldi.
The match was played at a furious pace, with the two teams producing more than 45 attempts between them. It became a night built on attacking ambition rather than the defensive authority traditionally associated with Italian football, and Inter’s recurring weaknesses at both ends again proved costly.
Marcus Thuram had an early opportunity for Inter, but Brugge settled quickly and began to threaten. Forbs won a penalty after driving from inside his own half and being caught late by Hakan Calhanoglu. Tresoldi, the Sardinian-born forward who has yet to settle the question of whether his senior international future lies with Italy or Germany, sent the spot-kick into the top corner.
Chivu’s frustration was clear as Inter struggled to contain Brugge’s forward running and left spaces behind them. Yet Lautaro Martínez gave the hosts a route back into the contest. An earlier equaliser had been ruled out for offside, but the captain soon made amends before half-time, escaping his marker and finishing cleanly when through on Sommer, who impressed on his return to the stadium he had called home until this summer.
Inter could not build on the 1-1 scoreline. Brugge had to cope with Brandon Mechele suffering a broken nose and Jorne Spileers going off injured, but the visitors still found room to punish a disjointed home defence. Lautaro missed a major chance, and Tresoldi then took control of the evening.
His second goal followed a glaring mistake by Josep Martínez as the Inter goalkeeper came out of his area, while the third arrived from close range after a rebound. The hat-trick took Tresoldi to nine goals for the season and made the Germany Under-21 international the central figure in a remarkable Brugge victory.
Lautaro struck again with little more than 10 minutes remaining to cut the deficit to 3-2, and Inter briefly had an opening to level the score. But with the home side stretched and chasing the game, Romeo Vermant broke forward to restore Brugge’s two-goal advantage.
An added-time goal from Ange-Yoan Bonny reduced the margin to 4-3, though it changed little beyond the final score. Eight months after Bodø/Glimt ended Inter’s European campaign in the same stadium, another continental night has left Milan with the same sense of damage: a side expected to command its home ground now facing a second straight Champions League defeat and serious questions over its ability to withstand elite opposition.
