Inter beat Leipzig to win Champions League

MILAN: Inter Milan took another step towards direct qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Leipzig on Tuesday that moved the Italians to the top of the table.

A Castillo Luciba own goal midway through the first half was enough for Inter, the only team yet to concede a goal to win their fourth straight match in Europe’s elite club competition.

Italian champions Inter hosted Real Madrid on Wednesday and held a one-point lead over Barcelona and Liverpool after narrow wins that should have ended with a more emphatic scoreline for the hosts.

Simone Inzaghi’s side returned to the defense of their Serie A title at high-flying Fiorentina on Sunday after a routine win at a far-from-complete San Siro makes them very likely to finish in the top eight with three matches remaining.

“We’re not sure about everything, we need to wait for tomorrow’s matches, maybe 16 points won’t be enough,” Inzaghi said when asked if his side were guaranteed a place in the last 16. One more win is needed to make it,” he told reporters.

“We’re going really well and we need to keep going, this is not the time to calculate.” Leipzig, meanwhile, have no points after their fifth defeat in as many games in the Champions League, even as qualification for the play-offs looks unlikely.

Marco Rose traveled to Italy with just 17 players as the injury crisis left him with few options, and Leipzig only entered the game after Inter inexplicably slowed down in the second half.

– Leipzig on the brink –

Leipzig’s bad luck with injuries seems to have worsened as Asan Ouedraogu had to be substituted on the hour mark after catching his foot in the turf and falling. “It’s very simple, we have three games and nine points available, with nine points we can reach the play-offs,” Rose said.

“Let’s see how we go in the next game and then I can say more because we obviously need to win all three games.” Inter should have taken the lead in the 18th minute when, under intense pressure from the home side, Lautaro Martinez squandered an excellent chance to fire home a low left-footed cross. The hosts’ biggest threat came from a cross from the flanks and it was a vicious delivery from Federico DeMarco that Luciba turned into his own net in the 27th minute.