The penultimate team to stand in the way of Inter

Coach Simone Inzaghi's team pressed the field for most of the time, but did not score a goal. The best opportunity in the first half belonged to Lautato Martinez after 19 minutes. The 2022 World Cup champion missed the ball while standing empty eight meters from the goal.

Lautaro and Romelu Lukaku also missed many other good opportunities. Their shots all missed the goal, or went straight into the hands of goalkeeper Emil Audero.

Inter faced more challenges from the beginning of the second half. Sampdoria actively retreated to defend, forcing the visitors to increase their long-range shots. The home team also organized a number of counter-attacks and crossed the ball to threaten goalkeeper Andre Onana's goal.

Lautaro missed another good chance at 90+5 minutes. This time, the Argentina player received an empty ball in the middle of the penalty area but handled it slowly, so that the home defender could steal it.

The performance in the Sampdoria draw ended Lautaro's impressive run of form after the 2022 World Cup: scoring seven goals in 10 games. The draw with the penultimate team also caused Inter to miss the opportunity to widen the gap with the competing group. Inter ranked second with 44 points from 22 games, three points ahead of Atalanta, Roma and Milan. Meanwhile, Napoli is leading with 59 points.

Due to the huge gap with Napoli, the chance for Inter to compete in Serie A in the remaining 16 rounds is almost zero. Keeping a position in the Top 4 is becoming a more realistic goal for Inzaghi's teachers and students. This season, Inter won the Italian Super Cup when they beat Milan 3-0 in the final. They also met Juventus in the semi-finals of the Italian Cup and faced Porto in the 1/8 round of the Champions League.