Champions League: Nicolo Tresoldi hat-trick sinks Inter Milan (3-4)

Nicolo Tresoldi has never played professional football in Italy. On Tuesday night, at his first match at San Siro, the Brugge striker scored three goals and brought Inter Milan down (3-4), on the second matchday of the Champions League. Before him, only Rivaldo in 2000-01 and Gareth Bale in 2010-11 had managed an opposing hat-trick at this stadium in the competition, notes L’Équipe.

Rejected in Italy, trained in Germany

Tresoldi is 22, born in Cagliari. As a teenager he was turned away by Milan, Juventus, Bologna, Fiorentina and Atalanta, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport, relayed by RMC Sport: the boy also played tennis, good enough for the Italian national team at 12, and that second sport counted against him. In 2017 he followed his mother, who had moved to Germany for work. Hannover 96 brought him through and gave him his professional debut at 18, in 2022. Brugge signed him for €7.5m in the summer of 2025, with Hannover freshly relegated to the German second division.

The numbers have stacked up since. Belgian champion and top scorer in the Jupiler Pro League last season, he already has four goals in two Champions League matchdays this campaign: L’Équipe calls him the surprise top scorer of the competition.

“For me, this match is a derby”

Tresoldi supports AC Milan, and he said so plainly after the final whistle. “A childhood dream. I always wanted to play at San Siro. For me, this match is a derby. Facing Inter as an AC Milan fan is exceptional,” he told Sky Sport Italia, as reported by So Foot.

His hat-trick came down to one penalty and two goals in open play. His evening also reopened the question of his international future: born and raised in Italy, trained in Germany, he remains eligible for both countries. “I have spoken with Klopp and Mancini, with the Italian and German federations,” he told Sky Italia, before adding: “I was born and grew up in Italy. We will see.”

Inter under early pressure

On the Milan side of the night, the mood is bleak. A Lautaro Martinez double and a late Bonny goal changed nothing: Inter lost at home for the second matchday running, and have now lost seven of their last eight Champions League matches. Foot Mercato speaks of a rout that has left Italy in shock, and coach Cristian Chivu is already under fire in the Italian press. The margin for the rest of the league phase is thin.

The player Italy let slip away now has both federations waiting on him.