Inter Milan was held up to a 1-1 draw by Monterrey in their FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) opener, with the first half of Sergio Ramos enough to earn Rayadas a point against the reports UEFA Champions League finalists.
Looking to bounce back from a disappointing end of the 2024-2025 season in which they abused all four available trophies, Inter Milan dominated the opening phase in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena – but the men of Cristian Chivu had no urgency and were far from clinical for the goal.
That lack of ruthlessness soon came back to bite them when Monterrey, with their first attacking chance on note, jumped in a surprise lead in the 25th minute.
The sizzling running of Sergio Canales through the center of the park resulted in a corner, which was nodded home by Sergio Ramos in a busy penalty.
But the Nerazzurri seemed to fight back and had bad luck not to recover parity three minutes later when Esteban Andrarada produced a wonderful rescue to refuse the shot of Sebastiano Esposito after an inch perfect cross of Carlos Augusto.
The Equalizer eventually arrived on the HT CUSP, with a smart Kristjan Asllani free kick routine, so Augusto was over the face of the goal of the goal for the Talismian Lautaro Martinez to tap home.
Despite a low strike of channels that threatened to restore Monterrey's lead shortly after the hour in Pasadena, the Nerazzurri forced the stronger opportunities during the second half.
Martinez in particular had to double his count, although he had been marked offside after he had come home in the 68th minute before he flared high and wide from the target 10 minutes later.
Key Match Statsopta by StatsPerform
There was enough to please Chivu when Inter Milan took a well-deserved point from his first game that was in charge, while Monterrey keeps their impressive goal point record in this tournament and now scored in 12 of their 13 CWC performances.
Flash score Man of the match: Carlos Augusto (Inter Milan)
View all match statistics with flash score.
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