BEVERLY HILLS, October 27, (THEWILL) –Â Serie A side Inter Milan remain winless in Group B of the UEFA Champions League after they were held to a goalless stalemate by Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.
Antonio Conte’s charges had thumped the same side 5-0 two months ago in last season’s Europa League semi-finals but could not carve a way through at the Kiev Olympic Stadium.
Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku had scored in nine straight European matches for Inter coming into this fixture and he came closest to making the breakthrough. But,Anatolii Trubin, in goal for Shakhtar, pushed his freekick onto the bar in the 42nd minute.
Nicolo Barella, Italian central midfielder, also struck the crossbar in the first half and Argentine forward Lautaro Martinez missed a glorious opportunity early in the second as Inter followed up last week’s 2-2 with Borussia Monchengladbach with another underwhelming point.
Shakhtar, who had held on to stun Real Madrid 3-2 in their opening group game, had goalie Trubin to thank for keeping them level against Inter.
The Russian side is still without a number of first-team players due to a coronavirus outbreak in the camp, yet they saw out proceedings against a solid Inter team to secure another impressive European result.
Up next for Inter is a home tie against Palma Calcio 1913 in the Serie A on Saturday, October 31 while in the Ukrainian Premier League, Shakhtar are up against Mariupol at home on Friday, October 30.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
