Real Madrid had 35.6 per cent of the ball at home in the Champions League and won. Inter passed it 621 times to Madrid's 352, took 21 shots to Madrid's 16, won eleven corners to four, and lost.
Two goals in nine minutes
Kylian Mbappé scored on 14, right footed from the centre of the box after Brahim Díaz put him in. Federico Valverde made it two on 23, left footed from the same part of the pitch. Mbappé had four shots all night and every one of them was on target, on the same day the Ballon d'Or shortlist named him one of the thirty.
By the half hour the match Madrid wanted was already on. Inter had to come to them, and Inter arrived having won their first three Serie A games.
Then sixty seven minutes of the other thing
Madrid made 33 clearances to Inter's 16. Inter attempted 30 crosses and completed ten. Thibaut Courtois made seven saves. Those three numbers are the second half, and they are what José Mourinho picked a team for.
Part of it was not a choice. Eduardo Camavinga, Arda Güler and Bernardo Silva were all suspended, so Trent Alexander-Arnold started in a two with Valverde in front of the back four. It held for 77 minutes.
Carlos Augusto's goal, and the last thirteen minutes
Carlos Augusto scored on 77, right footed from the centre of the box, set up by Lautaro Martínez. Two minutes later Mourinho took off Alexander-Arnold for Aurélien Tchouaméni and Brahim for Yan Diomande, which is a change made to protect a lead rather than extend one.
Vinícius Júnior came off on 87 for Álvaro Carreras, a left back. Mbappé came off in stoppage time. Inter had one more corner, four yellow cards between them by the end, and no second goal.
Where it leaves them
Three points from the first matchday, and a template. Madrid have one of the most expensive forward lines in Europe and just won a Champions League night by handing over the ball on purpose. Whether that is a plan or a shortage of available midfielders is what the next three weeks answer.
