- Both sides needed a result on matchday six to progress to the knockout-stages
- But after a goalless draw, Inter and Shakhtar Donetsk miss out on a last-16 place
Inter Milan were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage for the third season in a row on Wednesday night after being held to a goalless draw at home by Shakhtar Donetsk, who were also eliminated.
Lautaro Martinez rattled the crossbar in the seventh minute of the Group B match but Inter created few chances after that, despite dominating possession at a soggy San Siro.
Shakhtar finished level with Borussia Monchengladbach on eight points but lost out to the Bundesliga side – beaten 2-0 by Real Madrid – on their head-to-head record to finish third and will go into the Europa League instead.
Inter, who could have gone through with a win, finished bottom of the group with six points after drawing three of their six games.
Real won the group with 10 points.
Inter, who thumped Shakhtar 5-0 in last season’s Europa League semi-finals in August, needed to win to qualify and also to see the other match, between Real Madrid and Monchengladbach, not end in a draw.
Romelu Lukaku saw a header stopped by Trubin after the break before Shakhtar began to mount some attacks of their own.
Tete, one of six Brazilian-born players in Shakhtar’s starting line-up, tested Samir Handanovic with a fizzing long-range shot and Maycon sent the rebound over the bar.
Trubin pushed a Christian Eriksen drive out from under the bar in stoppage time as Inter’s European season came to an underwhelming conclusion.