(VIDEO) Lautaro Martinez scored near the end and Inter drew with Real Sociedad

Inter Milan flew to Spain to face Real Sociedad with the aim of starting in the best possible way their path in the Champions League 2023/24. Last season they came very close to winning the title, but lost the final against Manchester City in Istanbul. So now they want to repeat and, if possible, improve on what they did.

This Wednesday they had to work hard to avoid defeat in their first international match of the season. Real Sociedad proved to be a tough team and dominated the ball and the field for most of the time. And in the first few minutes they got the opener, when Alessandro Bastoni lost the ball near the box and Brais Mendez had time and space to shoot past the resistance of goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

In the second half Inter improved their performance with the introduction of Alexis Sanchez and Marcus Thuram, who along with Lautaro Martinez were a threat to Real Sociedad's defense. With only 10 minutes to go, Thuram scored the equaliser, but the VAR disallowed the goal for offside.

This did not discourage Inter, who were able to celebrate moments later: after 41 minutes, Davide Frattesi received the ball outside the box and sent a drilled cross that the Spanish defenders were unable to deny. In the far post Lautaro Martinez appeared and with his left foot netted the goal the Nerazzurri needed. The Argentine striker has scored 6 goals in 5 games this season, between Serie A and Champions League.

The unexpected leaders

After the first matches of the Champions League Group D, the first place in the standings belongs to RB Salzburg, who beat Benfica 2-0 in Portugal on Wednesday. The next matches will be played on Tuesday, October 3: Inter will face Benfica at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium and Real Sociedad will travel to Austria to play RB Salzburg.