Thuram and Mkhitaryan feast on Milan in a derby that will go down in history. Inter and Milan arrive at the match in excellent shape and this can be seen above all from the intensity with which the two teams play in the first half. The nervousness of last year’s matches are replaced by the desire with which the parties try to propose their game in the first half, which beyond the partial which ends shows a balanced match. In contrast, the second half lasts just 10 minutes. Leao’s goal which should in theory reopen the match is just a flash that rekindles the hopes of the Rossoneri fans in vain. The second 45 minutes are a Nerazzurri symphony, with Inzaghi’s team managing to absorb the impact of Milan’s goal to prevail with a result so clear and deserved that it recalls the famous 4-0 of the times of Mourinho and Milito. Fourteen years later the balance of power is the same. Milan will instead have to immediately dive into the Champions League commitment and start again from the little good that was seen tonight. It would seem obvious to say that Inter absolutely dominated the match, but it is important to remember this. This 5-1 is in perfect continuity with the derbies of last season and above all with the football and the results that Inzaghi’s team has achieved since April. The players will obviously take the honors of the covers but the work of Inzaghi and the technical staff was once again of an exceptional level: the attitude in the defensive phase shown in the first half, with a methodical and patient coverage of spaces, is decisive in the direct the match and yields only to Theo’s percussion and Leao’s blaze, while the added value brought by the additions of Augusto, Frattesi and Arnautovic is not only thanks to the quality of the Nerazzurri bench but also and above all an expression of the wisdom with which Inzaghi brings in fresh forces: the coach understands Milan’s intentions and exploits the verticality of the former Monza and Sassuolo players to split the match. Inter are in the lead alone and the credit can only go to the coach. Milan plays two matches. The first lasts 45 minutes and coincides with a first half that showcases the only aspects to be saved in this city-wide shipwreck. Inter’s goal after five minutes suggested that the match would go very similar to the Champions League derby on 10 May, but Pioli’s men instead showed a mental stability that was completely unknown last season. The first half sees a Milan that doesn’t give up, until after Thuram’s second goal, but that clashes with the density put in place by Inter. The second match, however, lasts the time needed to delude oneself that Leao’s goal could be the start of a comeback. Milan never leaves the locker room and pays above all for the shyness and worries of their leaders, Giroud and Theo above all. The roundness of the score is not simply justified by the absences in defense, but first of all by Pioli’s total and chronic inability to take adequate countermeasures against Lautaro and his teammates. The two absolute protagonists on the pitch of the evening are Thuram and Mkhitaryan. The Frenchman is decisive both on an individual level and in terms of impact on the team’s play, due to his extraordinary form, his speed, his dribbling and the verticality he gives to the team, something that Dzeko was simply not capable of give last year. Beyond his questionable boxers, it is Kjaer and Thiaw’s nightmare and there is nothing they can do to stop it. Mkhitaryan silences any malicious talk about his role in the team: the Armenian is the only real starter in Inzaghi’s midfield and the two goals seal his extraordinary ability to combine quantity, balance and offensive insertions with a concreteness and consistency that they rightfully put him among the best of this first part of the season. Two notes of color. The first is the three-way commentary of the Pardo-Ambrosini-Stramaccioni triumvirate, which brings the narrative of the matches closer, with some success, to NBA standards but which was probably designed, with the most Christian Democratic of decisions, to avoid any controversy over the bias of the comment. One on each side doesn’t hurt anyone in the end. The second is the terrible quality of the choreography of the two curves, not so much in terms of visual impact. The rancor that currently flows between the two teams goes far beyond the simple city rivalry, but the decision to continue to insist on the waste of last season to denigrate the rivals, rather than exploit the stage to exalt the love for one’s shirt is a choice questionable and stale.
The article Scattered considerations post Inter-Milan (5-1) comes from Sportellate.