The Champions League turnover to be at the top in Serie A too: the Nerazzurri’s primary objective is the scudetto
Desire to extend, desire to immediately give a decisive imprint to the season. In the Scudetto race, between now and the next international break, Simone Inzaghi’s Inter has a great opportunity to gain an advantage over its rivals and try to make its first real breakthrough in the championship.
Without direct clashes
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Starting tomorrow in Empoli, Inter is aiming for a series of victories, thanks to a rather favorable calendar: Sassuolo and Bologna at home, in between the away match to Salerno and the Champions League match at San Siro against Benfica. In short, reaching October 7th with another twelve points does not seem impossible (even if last year with the small teams they lost vital points) and, in the event of a clear path, the pressure on their Scudetto rivals would increase as early as October. Because then all the others will have at least one direct clash to face, with the very high risk of leaving points along the way: Milan will host Lazio (who will also play against Atalanta) next Saturday, Juve – the most feared rival also because without the European commitment – they will first go to Bergamo and then have to play the derby, Napoli have a tricky trip to Bologna tomorrow and then they will close the cycle at home with Fiorentina.
The rotations
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And so here we are at the first crucial point, which Inzaghi will face with almost the entire squad available (Sensi and Cuadrado still out) and with the possibility of resting at least one starter in each match. Calhanoglu will return to Empoli after the fatigue that forced him to stop on the eve of his Champions League debut. And as against Real Sociedad, Pavard will be confirmed in defense, ready to make his debut in Serie A. On the night of San Sebastian he said that this super Inter is also human, it can make a mistake in a match: a small alarm bell that becomes Inzaghi’s ally in view of the next challenges. Simone perhaps exaggerated with the turnover, but he wanted to send a signal to the whole group: for him they are all starters and everyone will have their chance, which must be deserved and not wasted (see Asllani in Spain). But Wednesday’s turnover was also designed to have the freshest players in the next three Serie A games in seven days.
22 starters
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On the other hand, the club carried out a revolution in the summer, with the fixed thought of giving its coach a squad worthy of the primary objective: the scudetto. On the subject, no one was hiding, from president Zhang to Inzaghi himself: Inter wants the second star. Marotta and Ausilio, despite the difficulties, made at least two starters for each position available to the coach: experienced players used to winning like Pavard, Cuadrado, Sommer and Sanchez, as well as Davide Frattesi who was the protagonist for the national team in the last match against Ukraine and who in the last two outings has also begun to leave his mark for the Nerazzurri, with a goal in the derby and an assist in his first in the Champions League. The ingredients for a great season are there, now it’s up to Inzaghi to avoid the mistakes of the past, given that in the last two seasons he already had a title-winning team in his hands. Two years ago he saw the finish line slip away due to personal demerits, wasting the advantage he had gained up until February over Milan. Last year, however, he quickly surrendered to Napoli’s extraordinary pace. Now it’s up to Inter to play Napoli, take an immediate lead and try to escape. Calendar in hand, you can.
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