Rotterdam (Netherlands) (AFP) - Italian Inter Milan, the runner-up of the season before last, continued its awakening with a major victory over its Dutch host Feyenoord 3-0 on Tuesday at De Kuip Stadium in Rotterdam in the fourth round of the unified group stage of the European Champions League football competition.
Published on: 03/11/2026 - 23:09
Inter, the three-time European champion, began scoring, specifically in the eighth minute, through its German international defender, Jan Pesek, and international Francesco Pio Esposito added the second after 26 minutes (34).
Polish international Piotr Zielinski secured the visitors' victory by scoring the third goal at the beginning of the second half after a pass from international Nicolo Barella (54).
It is the second win in a row for Inter after the first over Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine (1-0), after two consecutive losses at the beginning of its campaign in the competition against Real Madrid of Spain (1-2) and Club Brugge of Belgium (3-4), so it rose to fifteenth place with six points, while Feyenoord suffered its third loss, freezing its score at three points and falling to thirtieth place, in its fourth match in a row without any victory (two draws and two defeats).
The Italian champions rose up after their first loss in the league this season, which was against their neighbor Milan in the “Rage” derby 1-3 on Saturday, and the team of Romanian coach Christian Kefu avoided two consecutive defeats for the first time since November 2025.
It is Inter's third victory over Feyenoord in three confrontations between them in the competition so far, after their two matches in the round of 16 for the 2024-2025 edition.
Bisek gave Inter the lead when he received a ball on the outskirts of the penalty area, turned and shot it with a wonderful, sweeping left curve that passed goalkeeper Tiarek Ernst despite his attempt to block it.
Feyenoord struggled to get out of the high pressure imposed by Inter Milan, while the Italian League champions controlled possession and space during most of the first quarter of the match.
The home fans were forced to wait half an hour before they saw their team's first real opportunity, following a beautiful exchange of the ball that brought Algerian international Anis Hadj Moussa to a suitable position to shoot, but his attempt was stopped.
Inter quickly doubled its lead when English international Djid Spence found himself in a large space on the right side, before his shot bounced off a defender and was prepared for Esposito, who headed it from close range into the net.
The beginning of the second half brought more suffering to the men of former international coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst, after Feyenoord's defenses retreated and gave Gielinski the opportunity to advance and shoot. The Polish international midfielder accepted the gift and fired a powerful, unstoppable ball that hit the post and into the net in the 54th minute.
© 2026 AFP
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