Bisseck, De Vrij, Bastoni: the Nerazzurri coach only has three central defenders available and the only one on the bench is the young Palacios
By now Inter’s lineup in Serie A (but not only) could be recited by heart, like a rosary: Sommer; Bisseck, De Vrij, Bastoni; and so on, up to the attackers. The reason is easy to say: among the Nerazzurri defenders, these three are the only ones available to Simone Inzaghi. Added to the names is that of the young Tomas Palacios, who is however still considered immature: the Argentine (born in 2003) arrived in Milan last summer from Independiente Rivadavia, made his debut in Empoli and found (a few) more minutes last Friday against Parma . But he only accumulated 10 minutes on the pitch. Few to give guarantees to Inzaghi, especially in a department where the Nerazzurri coach almost always relies on his loyalists. Which, in this case, are in the pits. The match against Lazio next Sunday will already be the 10th match that Francesco Acerbi will be forced to miss in this first part of the season: the former Biancoceleste player had been knocked out in Rome, but against the Giallorossi, on 20 October last due to a problem muscular. Having missed the mini cycle between the end of October and the beginning of November, the centre-back then returned in the big match against Napoli but the following day, in Verona, he was knocked out again after just 15′. It was thought that it wasn’t such a serious problem that too many other matches would be missed, and instead the away match at the Olimpico will be the 5th in a row, which brings the total to 10 matches missed due to injury out of the 21 total played by Inter between Serie A and the Champions League since here. Practically half. Physical problems that are also leading Inter to evaluate the defender’s future: the contract expires in 2026, but the club has reserved the unilateral option of terminating him a year early. An option that is being considered…
pavard, de vrij, sticks…
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And thank goodness Bisseck is here, one might think. Because the German centre-back – who arrived at Inter last year from Aarhus, a Danish club – had already impressed last season but this year he is making the most of every opportunity that comes his way. Also “thanks” to the injuries of the various teammates in the department. In his case, it was Pavard who made room for him, having been out of action since the end of November due to the injury suffered during the Champions League match against Leipzig and in the pits until the new year. Acerbi’s team has instead relaunched Stefan De Vrij in a big way: the Dutchman was Inter’s best even in the unfortunate trip to Leverkusen and match after match he is also changing the minds of the Nerazzurri management. His contract will expire on June 30th 2025: who knows, maybe he might stay in Milan and not Acerbi, in a department that needs new faces and investments. At a corporate level, however, the Nerazzurri market men denied any idea of investment in January despite Inzaghi being forced to always choose Bisseck, De Vrij and Bastoni. Will it be true?