Inter-Milan is a match valid for the return leg of the Champions League semifinals and is played Tuesday at 9 p.m.: free-to-air TV, probable formations, predictions.
Drawn-out match? Total balance like 20 years ago? Not a chance. In the first of the two Euroderbies of the Champions League this time there was one team that had it all, despite the fact that the final result suggests otherwise. That’s right, because Simone Inzaghi’s 0-2 win in the first leg, in which Inter’s superiority, as had been the case in the last two extracittadicas (Supercup and league), was evident, was definitely a narrow one.
The rocket start of the Nerazzurri found Milan unprepared, who after just eleven minutes found themselves down by two goals, with the deadly one-two signed by the two former Roma players Dzeko and Mkhitaryan. Over the course of the first half, Lautaro Martinez and his teammates repeatedly came close to scoring the third goal, even grabbing a woodwork. Stefano Pioli’s team timidly tried to react in the second half, but without ever giving the feeling that they could really get back into the game. Inter, in short, has already booked its flight to Istanbul, the venue of the final, which the Nerazzurri club would return to play 13 years after the last act in Madrid that saw them take the throne of Europe and win the infamous Triplete with Mourinho on the bench. Predictions of the eve respected, then: the absence through injury of a phenomenal player like Leao was a blow to an AC Milan, which arrived at the climax of the season with less certainty than its cousins, who will now also need only to lose by one goal to take their seats on the plane to Turkey.
Rossoneri in the hunt for the feat
A mountain to climb for the Rossoneri, who also showed their usual difficulties in the league last Saturday. In La Spezia, a Milan infilled with reserves surrendered 2-0 to Leonardo Semplici’s team, showing that they had taken the blow but also that they could not do without the starters of a squad less long than Inter’s.
Dzeko
The defeat on Ligurian soil, the second consecutive without scoring goals, risks complicating the Champions’ comeback of the now former Italian champions, who finished -4 from fourth place. Lack of continuity has always been a problem this year for the Rossoneri, unable to win multiple games in a row since last February. Consistency of results, on the other hand, is precisely that ingredient that is turning Inter’s season around, a different team from the one that at the turn of March and April had lost confidence and was doing nothing but collecting league defeats. For the past month or so, the Nerazzurri have been going as fast as a train. And against Sassuolo in the last round of Serie A they brought home their seventh consecutive victory (21 goals scored in the partial) among the various competitions. In the match with the neroverdi the star of the evening was Lukaku, a player completely rediscovered after a chiaroscuro first part of the season due to numerous physical problems. The success over the Emiliani allowed Inzaghi’s men to leapfrog Lazio into third place and consolidate their Champions League position: they are now +5 right behind their cousins Milan.
Inter-Milan: the latest news on the lineups
An abundance and a now-empty infirmary on Saturday allowed Inzaghi to rotate as many as eight players, ready to return in the return semifinal. The Piacenza coach is expected to field the same lineup as in the first leg, with Lautaro Martinez and Dzeko up front and Lukaku starting from the bench alternating with the Bosnian. In front of Onana will be the trio formed by Darmian, again as a right-back, Acerbi and Bastoni. In the midfield, at the direction, Calhanoglu could again tick off Brozovic.
Brahim Diaz
In Milan, eyes are obviously on Leao. The player has recovered from the muscle elongation that prevented him from playing the first leg and, although he is not at his best, he should grit his teeth and take the field from the 1′. On the other hand, Bennacer, who ended his season prematurely after his injury six days ago, will not be there. In defense Thiaw is likely to be preferred to Kjaer, while Saelemaekers is in the ballot with Messias.
The Prediction
Yes, it’s true, there are no obvious derbies. And usually in a derby anything can happen. But the diametrically opposite moment that Inter and Milan are going through, beyond the presence of Leao or not (who will not be 100%) and the result of the first leg almost discourage the Rossoneri’s comeback ambitions. Who in any case will make sure not to make the mistakes of the first leg, pulling out a performance of pride. Inter, which has won the last three derbies by scoring six goals and without conceding a single one, remains favored to pass the round. And it is highly likely that it will avoid defeat this time as well. Pioli’s team should manage to pierce the Nerazzurri goal on at least one occasion in a derby that could light up in the second half and give more than two goals overall.
The probable lineups of Inter-Milan
- INTER (3-5-2): Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Çalhanoğlu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro Martínez, Džeko.
- MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Thiaw, Hernández; Tonali, Krunić; Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Leão; Giroud.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
