Frattesi's Tears of Emotion Destroy Bayern's Dignity

MUENCHEN, WEDNESDAY — Davide Frattesi not only brought smiles to millions of Inter Milan supporters while watching the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich, early Wednesday morning (9/4/2025) WIB, at Allianz Arena Stadium, Germany. His grandmother, who passed away just a few hours before the match began, could also rest peacefully as she departed from this world.

Frattesi's strike, responding to a cross from left-back Carlos Augusto with just two minutes remaining in the second half of regular time, secured Inter's 2-1 victory over Bayern. The goal came less than three minutes after Bayern's equalizer through a shot by Thomas Mueller.

Before the drama of two goals at the end of the match, Inter had taken the lead through a brilliant finish by their captain, Lautaro Martinez, in the 38th minute. Martinez struck the ball with the outside of his right foot, creating a curling movement that defeated Bayern's goalkeeper, Jonas Urbig.

Frattesi, who entered in the 74th minute to replace Henrikh Mkhitaryan, celebrated his goal with great emotion. He took off and threw his jersey into the air, which was met with hugs from Inter players.

Although he initially appeared full of joy, Frattesi ended the goal celebration in tears. His face turned red. Martinez even gave him a tight hug and comforted his teammate before getting ready to resume the match.

Frattesi admitted to feeling a deep loss for his grandmother. He received the news of her passing before the match against Bayern began. This situation made him very determined to dedicate something to the important figure in his life at Allianz Arena.

"When I heard the news, I tried to keep going, although it was really hard. I was also surprised at how hard this loss was. I was very close to my grandmother," Frattesi told Sky Sport Italia after the match.

"I think she (the grandmother) also played a role in my goal. I hope she is watching and supporting me from up there," added Frattesi, who has a large family in Rome, the Italian city.

Frattesi's closeness to his grandmother was evident at the celebration of the Italian League's scudettolast season. He has a photo with his grandmother at the celebration of Inter's 20th league title on the San Siro Stadium field.

Despite the highly emotional goal for Frattesi, Inter put in a brilliant performance to provide the antithesis of Bayern's attacking display. Not only did they let Bayern comfortably dominate possession, Inter also had more possession in the first half.

As much as 51 percent of ball possession was collected by "I Nerazzurri" in the first half. After the break, Bayern was very eager to close down Inter's defense with a record of 61 percent of ball possession in order to pursue an equalizer.

The match scenario seemed to have entered into Inter Coach Simone Inzaghi's plan. Two different tactical approaches were roughly presented by Inter in the two halves. The game with a lower defensive line in the second half was also the fruit of the mutual trust of Inter players.

The presence of a strong goalkeeper, Yann Sommer, helped Inter's defense calm under the storm of attacks by "Die Roten", Bayern's nickname. A total of 20 shots were created by Bayer, 13 shots were created in the second half, only resulting in one goal.

Sommer made six saves, with the Swiss goalkeeper's performance helping Inter avoid an expected goals allowed (xGA) of 1.85.

On the other hand, Inter's counter-attack tactics also worked well. Nicolo Barella became the "chef" of every Inter attack. The two goals scored by Inter started from his smart decision to give a key pass to Augusto who was free to move forward on the left side.

Augusto then provided the cross that helped Inter end Bayern's unbeaten home run in the Champions League for 27 games since 2021.

"Bayern put us under pressure, but Inter played the quality football we have shown over the last four seasons. We also deserve credit for believing in winning until the end, despite conceding a goal a few minutes earlier," Inzaghi was quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport

Despite helping Inter to a second win at Bayern in four Champions League meetings, Inzaghi does not want Inter players and supporters to get carried away ahead of the second leg at the San Siro next week.

"This great performance means nothing if we don't repeat the same thing in the second leg at San Siro with the support of our fans. This victory means nothing because there is still a second leg that is very decisive," said Inzaghi, who led Inter to the 2022-2023 Champions League final.

Meanwhile, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany did not want to blame the storm of injuries suffered by his team as the cause of the defeat to Inter. According to him, tactical considerations have been made carefully to perform at their best with the available squad.

Bayern were missing key players including Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Manuel Neuer. Despite the defeat, Kompany appreciated his team's good performance.

"We did what we had to do. We didn't give Inter many chances. We should have moved the ball better and scored early on," Kompany was quoted as saying on UEFA's website.

In the opening 25 minutes, Bayern's main striker Harry Kane had two golden opportunities in the 14th and 26th minutes. His header in the 14th minute was saved by Sommer, then his shot on target 12 minutes later was blocked by the goalpost.

"Inter proved they are a strong team. They took advantage of our moments of lack of focus. But I see we still have hope in Milan after watching the first game," Kompany said.