Not for the first time this season, Inter showed they have far more strength in depth than Milan, but their reticence could still be costly in the Champions League, writes Susy Campanale.
If you sit Milan and Inter fans down, the vast majority of them will agree on one thing – the Nerazzurri have a stronger squad. This has never been in doubt, even when the Rossoneri won the Scudetto ahead of their rivals last season. That was shown up even more in the Champions League semi-final, as Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the goals, while Hakan Calhanoglu hit the woodwork, all players who could easily have been left out of the starting XI by Simone Inzaghi.
On the other hand, Stefano Pioli was already missing Rafael Leao and lost Ismael Bennacer in the opening 20 minutes, so as the game wore on and they desperately needed a goal, he called upon Divock Origi, Tommaso Pobega and Junior Messias. There is really no comparison.
It is therefore no real surprise that Inter have won three of the four meetings with their city rivals this season, in Serie A, the Supercoppa Italiana and the Champions League. Stefano Pioli has performed miracles with this side to win the Scudetto and reach the final four of Europe’s most prestigious tournament, but it has become abundantly obvious that their summer signings added nothing to what was already a limited group, which was only further weakened by injuries.
Despite all of that, Inter looked as if they were going to run riot in this first leg when surging into a 2-0 lead within 11 minutes, but that result remains potentially within reach for the second leg, especially if Rafael Leao returns to the side. This has got to be a concern for their fans, because the nickname ‘Pazza Inter’ was earned for a good reason, nothing can ever be taken for granted with this club.
Inzaghi has always tended to sit deeper and try to protect a lead in the final 30 minutes, but he started doing it even before half-time in this Euro derby. That is a very negative approach to be taking when it is to be decided over two legs. They could’ve kept pushing and given Milan no hope going into Tuesday night, instead they made more and more defensive substitutions and tactical adjustments. It proved damaging, because Roberto Gagliardini had the chance to make it 3-0 late on and was the last person you wanted in that position.
As for Milan, they showed once more that there is a real problem with their mentality. Time and again this season, they have had to fight back from a goal down and seem to start games with unacceptable levels of sluggishness. Their greatest hope for the second leg is that Pioli’s side have always given their best as underdogs rather than when expected to shine, and they are certainly in that position, especially as the crowd will be majority Inter in the showdown.
Milan have eliminated Inter in both previous Champions League meetings. If they’re going to make it the hat-trick, then they need a completely different approach from the first minute on Tuesday.
Twitter: @SusyCampanale