Inter took the honours in the first round of the biggest all-Italian European tie in many years. Giancarlo Rinaldi analyses what the weekend’s Serie A games told us about what lies in store in the second match.
Nobody ever got rich betting on derby games. As the old cliché suggests, you had better keep a window open for throwing out the form book whenever two historic rivals cross swords. It was definitely an advantage to Simone Inzaghi’s men after the first skirmish at the San Siro but what did their latest league fixtures say – if anything – about the next sell-out clash at the Stadio Meazza?
No Leão, No Wow
It will have surprised nobody to hear it but the Rossoneri are an infinitely weaker side without their talisman Rafael Leão. In their first Champions League semi-final game, Inter were able to put them under pressure without the fear of a deadly counter-attack due to the absence of the prodigiously talented Portuguese player. What was more disappointing was that they looked equally toothless against little Spezia on Saturday and could only muster a couple of shots on target as the likes of Ante Rebic, Divock Origi and the chronically off-the-boil Charles De Ketelaere failed to shine. If there is a prayer room at Milanello it will have been jam-packed over the past few days with club officials seeking divine intervention to get their matchwinner back for Tuesday’s showdown.
Big Rom Raring to Go
If you wanted a stark contrast to the situation on the red and black side of the city you could hardly have asked for a clearer one than the performance of Romelu Lukaku against Sassuolo. While Stefano Pioli’s back-up strikers have been veering between the hapless and the hopeless, the big Belgian sent a message to his manager that he would be ready if called upon with a couple of goals at the weekend. With Edin Dzeko imperious in the first leg and Lautaro Martinez always ready to go – whether starting or from the bench – the Nerazzurri have an array of attacking weapons their cousins would kill for. Should they need to seek more firepower during the return match, they should have plenty of options.
Pressure on Pioli
In football, gratitude is a harder commodity to sniff out than a prize truffle in the hills of Piedmont. You might think that winning an improbable Scudetto with a squad which did not look the strongest in the division would have bought the Milan coach some time but you would – at least for some sections of the support – be wrong. Apparently, the hashtag #PioliOut has been flourishing on social media once again and he and his team were called upon to explain themselves to the travelling support after their away defeat at Spezia. According to their coach, the upset Ultras just wanted to “encourage” their team to perform better but veteran Serie A followers will know that often involves some chant to exhibiting spherical objects. It seems doubtful that it needed a chat with some Capo Ultra to get the team to understand how important the upcoming game is but if it has the desired effect everyone will presumably be happy. The suspicion is, though, that the players will have already been well aware of what the match means without having to be given this pitchside lecture.
Inter not impenetrable
Having conceded just one goal in their last six outings, the Nerazzurri at least gave their opponents some hope by shipping a couple of goals against Sassuolo. In truth, it was far from their first-choice defence and Samir Handanovic replaced André Onana in goal, but Simone Inzaghi will still have been disappointed not to keep things a bit tighter at the back. An early goal for Milan could still reopen the final qualification discussion and it did not look quite as unlikely based on this performance. Everyone will expect a more steely display when the stakes are higher but it showed Pioli that there are ways to undo the defensive strategies which have served his opposite number so well in Europe thus far.
Strength in depth
It is to Inter’s eternal shame that they have not performed better in Serie A this season and have lost so many games but the weekend underlined just how much stronger their squad is than that of their city rivals. That gap was underlined midweek when Inzaghi could call on Marcelo Brozovic, Lukaku and Stefan De Vrij to boost his side along with the solid Roberto Gagliardini and inconsistent but potentially brilliant Joaquin Correa. Milan’s Junior Messias, Malick Thiaw, Origi, Pierre Kalulu and Tommaso Pobega looked like a definitely more limited set of subs. At the weekend, with both sides having one eye on Europe, the Inter “reserves” performed much better than their Milanese counterparts. If Pioli manages to mastermind a comeback with the resources at his disposal, he would deserve a place in the club’s hall of fame – never mind the sack.
Twitter: @Ginkers