Low center of gravity and quick attack: Inter are already studying the City machine

Come on, who hasn’t enjoyed video games? Who has never spent an afternoon overcoming adversaries, pitfalls, obstacles, traps? To then finally arrive, after time, sweat, effort and great satisfaction, at the last picture of the game. The one with the seven-headed monster, with the unbeatable team ahead and a mountain to climb that you say “well, come on, it’s been nice up to here, but now I really don’t know where to start”. Here, Inter have been at this point since last night. And the monster is called Manchester City. But football is like a video game, don’t think so. There is a lot of complicated, but nothing impossible. Otherwise it would not be possible to explain, so to speak, the evolution of betting odds around the winner of the Champions League. At the time of the draws, Inter who lifted the trophy paid on average around 50 times the stake, with peaks of even 70. After the draw for the round of 16, the same odds fluctuated between 25 and 41. Manchester City, so to speak, at the same point was given at 3. Today the odds for Inter as European champions are 3.65. Now it is right to believe it. It’s fair to think that you can finish the video game and beat the monster. As? With these three moves.

Attitude / Defense at the top and low center of gravity

—

Manchester City are a goal machine, they are the best attack in the tournament with 31 goals and last night they gave further proof. However, Inter are a perfect fit, though. Because Onana closed 8 out of 12 games undefeated. Because he is the goalkeeper with the most saves in the entire Champions League, therefore the most decisive in this sense. And Inter is the formation with the most balls recovered and the most tackles (both made and won). Weapons that will also need to be put back on the field on June 10th. City – needless to say – love having the ball at their feet. Inter 2.0, the one that Lukaku explained well, or the team that gave up on the idea of ​​recovering the ball with a high center of gravity by focusing more on counterattacks, is equipped to block. The low center of gravity will be an almost obligatory choice: it doesn’t mean blocking, it means knowing how to limit the moments in which to press.

The danger / Brozo to screen also… Haaland

—

The monster has seven heads, sure. Think of yesterday’s match, with a stellar Bernardo Silva. But an extra eye must always be placed on the offensive end, Haaland, a center forward who moves so much, often moves everything. You can’t think of facing the Norwegian as if he were any forward. So yes, Acerbi will take care of it in the first instance, with the help of the doubles from Darmian and Bastoni. But in cases like these, when you are faced with champions that are difficult to limit one-on-one, the alternative is to ensure that the player receives as few playable balls as possible. And therefore, solve the root problem by blocking supplies. In this Champions League, the two City players who have served Haaland the most balls so far have been Grealish and De Bruyne. And then a special task will fall to Dumfries and Darmian in the flank, from Guardiola’s number 10, who will have to try to contain their imagination. And then Brozovic. It will be necessary to understand the evolution of the Mkhitaryan situation, if the Armenian recovers in time. But today it is right to think about a probable use from the first minute of the Croatian. And that’s not to say it’s a bad thing. Because Brozo plays the role of playmaker in front of the defense differently from Calhanoglu. And to limit De Bruyne precisely in that area, Brozovic seems more cut than the Turkish, so as to shield direct passes to Haaland.

Restarts / Direct play and throws on the weak side

—

But how does the monster attack? Because you can’t think only of the defensive aspect. Guardiola makes recovering the ball in a very high area a prerogative of him. It’s hard to think that Inter always comes out clean with ball possession. It’s more logical to imagine a more direct, more vertical game, perhaps a direct throw towards the tips. Even better: it will be important to take advantage of the side changes, to take advantage of City’s weak side. And in this sense, the performance of the wingers will be decisive, namely Dumfries and Dimarco, called to play a double phase without stopping. Call yourself to play on pace, to raise the level, But then, to defeat a monster you have to do something extraordinary. Something that hasn’t even succeeded at Real Madrid…