At San Siro the dangerous challenge to Fiorentina, but with the head already in the Milan leaders to catch up. Simone has new securities, from defense to the role of the Bull
– MILAN
That rumble in the belly of the Olimpico reached its destination: on Friday the words flew away and immediately exploded in Inter Milan. That’s where Stefano Pioli deliberately looked, immediately after teaching Mourinho a lesson: “We and Inter want the second star…”, winked the Milan coach. On the one hand he puffed out his chest, called to arms, on the other he threw the glove at his cousins, with whom he shares the same obsession: the scudetto number 20. Simone Inzaghi listened, digested the rival message and prepared the counter-offensive which starts from tonight San Siro: Italian ultra-offensive Fiorentina arrives, not the most comfortable opponent for those who want to show up for the derby after the break side by side with the Devil. We are at the dawn of the season, but losing points just before the most important match would take away some serenity. If there is one thing that this first stretch taught, however, it is that Inter are traveling on very solid certainties: some come from the past, such as the 3-5-2 formation which is a mausoleum to which Inzaghi is devoted, others they are brand new. For example, there’s a different mentality in the league: it seems more practical and effective for getting to the bottom of apparently softer starts like those against Monza and Cagliari. In addition, a different defensive solidity and the sun around which the Nerazzurri revolves has also changed: in the center no longer the tall and thick attacker, as in the times of Lukaku and then Dzeko, but only and only the Bull. Three quarters of the goals in 2023-24 were scored by Lautaro: it is becoming natural to play to exalt the captain.
WHAT A HEAD
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The effect of the “gentle” revolution practiced on the market, a profound change of men but not of ideas, will be seen one step at a time, but the first signs go in one direction. While maintaining the same rigid imprint of the game, Simone’s new creature has a different depth of squad than the one that would have deserved to kiss the Cup in Istanbul. We have moved to guarantee the coach at least one reserve up to the owners and so it would seem. Abundance reigns above all on the flanks, thanks to the new Cuadrado and Carlos Augusto, and in the XXL size midfield where, at least in theory, there will be seven for three places. These props, however, might not be really effective if Inzaghi weren’t also propping up his parents’ heads: last year they were always present to themselves in the Champions League, while tension dropped too often in the league. After the atrocious mockery in the Champions League final, the team has so far kept hunger and concentration intact. With Viola, however, the level rises compared to the first two in Serie A and the test is more demanding also for recent memories: before the Coppa Italia final won by the Nerazzurri in a comeback, Fiorentina had feasted at the Meazza in April putting in serious trouble Inzaghi. He was the third knockout in a row, the bench seemed to creak, but then the coach deservedly kept it to himself (complete with a subsequent renewal) thanks to the final outburst.
DEFENSE AND BULL
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Pavard will change the geography of the defense, he will have the technical guide that was Skriniar, but for the moment his colleagues are getting along fairly well. And never mind if a column like Acerbi returns only after the break: Inter are in any case the only team not to have conceded a goal in these lands, indeed Sommer has practically never trembled. Of course, Maric and Pavoletti are more tender rivals than the tarantolated Nico Gonzalez arriving at San Siro, but Inzaghi’s team is really close to a historic mini-feat: the nerazzurri do not start a Serie A tournament with three victories in the first three without not even conceding a goal since 1966. And speaking of records, tomorrow Lautaro also has his piece of history to take: he is at 105 goals, if he continued to score he would enter the top 10 of the best Nerazzurri goalscorers of all times. One golletto higher, at 106, the tenth place of Ermanno Aebi, an Inter fan from the early days of a Swiss father and an Italian mother: already in the 1910s he had a “double passport” and to make him fully blue they made him do military service during the Great War . He was the first “oriundo” of the national team, 100 years before Retegui. Overcoming him immediately, in the derby or even further on, will not change Toro’s status: he has scored 8 of the last 14 Nerazzurri goals, 57% of the total. Sending him to goal is now everyone’s mission, but a star cannot be placed on the chest alone: to respond to Pioli in the long term, assistance from colleagues will be needed.
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