Derby D'Italia Bragging Rights Belong To Inter

A day has passed since Inter’s victory in the Derby D’Italia at San Siro. The timing of this article is not deliberate to be a day late rather it’s dictated by my availability.

Winless Run Is Over

The last time Inter beat Juventus was in 2016 under Frank De Boer’s doomed reign no less. Since then, we have not beaten them. We came close on at least one occasion but we haven’t done the needful. This win is also the first one since the Treble season that we beat them without conceding.

Poor Record In Big Matches & Against Juventus

The manner with which this victory was achieved was pleasing. Matches of this magnitude against big teams and more so against our bitter rivals, have to be won. How we play to achieve victory is secondary. Going into this match, besides our recent record in the Derby D’Italia, we have not had a good time in big matches this season. We have only had one victory, a slender 1-0 win over Napoli at the San Siro. We have drawn three of those games after taking the lead against Lazio, Atalanta and Roma and lost the Milan derby narrowly. The draw against Roma from previous week was fresh on our minds. The over-riding emotion among fans was that we dropped two points there after being dominant due to our negative substitutions.



Profligate Finishing (Again)

A friend commented to me last night that Inter were ruthless against Juventus but that was not what I saw. It was an almost perfect performance from us and we thoroughly deserved the victory. But we were far from ruthless. Had we been ruthless, we would have wrapped up the game in the first half. Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku gave the Juventus back three of Danilo, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini a run for their money. The Lukaku-Chiellini battle was a throwback to old days when there were strong and real defenders coming up against physically strong attackers. Martinez and Lukaku’s good work should have been rewarded by at least a goal but they were both frustratingly wasteful. Lukaku has been accused of being absent in big matches but he was very much present here. Last season, Martinez was the man for the big occasions but that has been missing this season. Overall, he has been guilty of being profligate. Thankfully, we didn’t pay for our profligacy like we have done many times this season.


Midfield Won The Battle

This game was won in midfield. Nicolo Barella kept creeping up between Juventus’ midfield and defence and running past his markers. He capped a great game with an assist and a goal. Arturo Vidal has got a lot of criticism since his signing and he followed up his goal against Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia with the opener. It couldn’t have been scored by a worst player from a Juventus perspective, a player they know only too well. He didn’t too badly overall either. The third member of the midfield, Marcelo Brozovic was the one that pulled the strings for us.

Sharp & Strong In Defence

Defensively not one player put a wrong foot. Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni contained Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata very well. Bastoni produced a great assist which has been argued to be a mishit. Either way, it worked well for us as his long ball was measured to perfection for Barella to score his and Inter’s second goal. Samir Handanovic has been called a statue so many times for not doing more to keep out shots. Here, he was far from a statue. He didn’t have much to do but when called into action, he made a great save off Federico Chiesa.


Inter’s Best Performance

This was Inter’s best performance against a big team this season and arguably our best performance of the season. Antonio Conte has received a lot of criticism for his selections, tactics, substitutions and Champions League elimination. But this match showcased the best of Conte. This could also be a prelude of what Inter would be like when European competition resumes and they play once a week while their rivals have midweek matches. It would also give him some satisfaction at beating a club where he was a player, captain and the manager that started their run of nine consecutive Scudetti.



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