It didn't even take Inter Milan two minutes to take the lead away at the Camp Nou. A quickly taken Inter free-kick set off a Laurato Martinez run which beat Barcelona's disorganized and vulnerable defence, resulting in a clinical finish from the Argentinian. If I had to explain park the bus and counter-attacking football to an alien who just landed on earth (aka Mesut Özil), I would show them how Inter played in the 43 remaining minutes of that first half. Inter Milan are currently managed by Antonio Conte who is known as a very intense and demanding manager, with Andrea Pirlo saying in his autobiography that "when Conte speaks, his words assault you." He is also known for his specialty of employing three-at-the-back formations. These formations deploy three central defenders with the focal point of the team being the two wing-backs on either side of them. Their job is to essentially run for 90 minutes, defending and attacking from end-to-end as the sole left or right outside option for their team. However, Inter had just taken the lead at the home of the mighty Barcelona within two minutes, so they certainly would want to keep it. As a result, the two wing backs stayed back, to solidify the defence and ensure that Barcelona would not score, turning the back three into a back five. This back five parked the bus and sat in front of their goal, allowing Barcelona to dominate the possession but not letting them create any quality shooting chances. When Inter did win the ball off the Blaugrana, they counter attacked, sending the ball to Martinez and the other forwards who sped up the pitch, terrorizing the subpar Barcelona defenders. Using these tactics, Internazionale created better shooting opportunities than Barcelona, in the first half that is.

Barcelona were very poor in the first half and thus an improved second half performance was vital if they wanted to get anything from the game. So Barcelona responded, in part thanks to Barca manager, Ernesto Valverde. Valverde has been rightfully criticized in the past for some questionable substitutions and tactics. However, Valverde's substitution in the 53rd minute, bringing Arturo Vidal on for Sergio Busquets, was instrumental in injecting life into his side. Seconds after coming on, Vidal began pushing forward, putting pressure on Inter's midfield and backline. Vidal's teammates followed his lead and began to match his intensity, of which they had produced very little of, up to this point. As a result, the Blaugrana were back in the match and creating chances within minutes. In the 58th minute (only 5 minutes after Arturo Vidal came on), Barcelona's hard work paid off as Luis Suarez put them level with a sumptuous volley from just outside the box coming off an assist from Vidal himself, who out of the side had the biggest smile on his face after Suarez scored.

After Suarez's goal the game became less about tactics and more about temperament and composure or lack there of. As the Barcelona pressure mounted, Inter began to fall apart. They were struggling to keep up with the Blaugrana, especially since the Inter players had put their maximum effort into the first half. Conte and his Inter Milan side struggled to get themselves back into the game particularly because of their mediocre bench which lacked players who could come on and make a Vidal-like impact on the match. Adding insult to injury, Conte's intensity came back to bite him as he clashed with the referee on several occasions. Such behaviour can only distract a team, not encourage or motivate them. When all of which is considered, it is no surprise that Barcelona went on to score another and won the game 2-1.

Quote Of The Week

"Hey @NFL, we scored the first touchdown at Tottenham Stadium"

- A tweet from the FC Bayern US official Twitter account, joking about scoring 7 goals away at Tottenham's newly built stadium which is used for some NFL games abroad