As we did following the quarter-final first legs, we thought we’d ask our regular Serie A expert for his take on this week’s return ties involving Napoli, Inter, and Milan.
By Matteo Bonetti, US Serie A expert
Milan’s amazing Champions League run
The last time Milan made the Champions League semi-finals was back in 2007, when they got their revenge against Liverpool in the final. Since then, the team has had one of the darkest decades in its history in the 2010s, including a seven year stretch where they didn’t even qualify for Europe’s premier competition.
Fast forward to 2023 and the Rossoneri are this season’s biggest UCL surprise. They beat Napoli 2-1 on aggregate, only weeks after winning 4-0 at the Maradona against the Partenopei in Serie A. Just like in the first leg, Milan were able to weather the early storm against Napoli’s press and possession. Once they got through the early onslaught, Milan were able to hit out on the counter through Rafael Leão, who put in another stunning run up the pitch to set up Olivier Giroud’s goal. This strategy worked once again for them – play a bit deeper and let Leão run rabid at a defence that just couldn’t cope with his pace. It was Tanguy NDombele’s poor control that allowed Leão to get on the ball to begin with. The French midfielder was only playing because of Zambo Anguissa’s suspension, and his involvement turned out to play a key role in the final result of the game, but not necessarily for the reasons Luciano Spalletti will have wanted.
Milan’s return to the Champions League’s final four only a year after winning the Serie A Scudetto shows how impressive the plan has been at the top of the club. While the Rossoneri cannot spend like a Premier League giant, they’ve been shrewd with their investment by focusing on quality youth and allowing them time to develop. There’s no better example of this than the careers of the aforementioned Rafael Leão, and Sandro Tonali. Both joined Milan at a young age and had a hard time settling in at first. It took 16 months for Tonali to finally show his importance. For Leão, the first two seasons of his career in northern Italy were summarised by rare flashes of brilliance outweighed by many inconsistent performances. Milan showed patience with both players. Instead of sending them on loan, they believed in the vision and allowed both Leão and Tonali to grow with the club until they finally expressed their full potential. The results have paid dividends – Leão is the reigning Serie A MVP and just had two world class performances against Napoli in the Champions League, while Tonali has become one of the best box-to-box players in Italy.
For Napoli, Victor Osimhen was finally back from injury but kept under tight control by the fantastic Simon Kjær, who had one of his best games of the season. Only in the final minute of the game was Osimhen finally able to get a decent chance on target, a header which he smashed in. There’s no shame in Napoli’s exit. The club has already done the unthinkable this season, going from 25/1 underdogs to win the Scudetto to a double digit lead at the top of the standings for the last few months. The Neapolitan faithful still have a reason to be upset at some refereeing decisions in both legs, though. There was the unfair sending off of defender Kim Min-jae, which meant Serie A’s best centre-back was suspended for the second leg. In the last game, there was also a penalty appeal not given, as Rafael Leão made contact with Chucky Lozano’s boot before going through the ball. Fortunately, Napoli’s first Serie A scudetto in three decades will mean that these decisions will be quickly forgotten.
Inter knock off Benfica
Back in Milan, Inter ended up beating Benfica comfortably in the Champions League quarter-finals, with a 5-3 aggregate win that was never really in doubt.
Inter’s European run comes during a stretch where they’ve lost four of their last five in Serie A, including an abysmal attacking record where they’ve taken 113 shots and only scored once from open play. These offensive troubles have vanished in the Champions League, where suddenly the Nerazzurri look unstoppable in the final third. Five goals in two matches against a Benfica side that went toe-to-toe with PSG in the group stages is a surprising achievement given the recent domestic form.
Against Benfica, three players in particular stood out from an Inter perspective. The man of the match was Nicoló Barella, who scored a stunning goal by faking a shot on his favoured right, cutting it back onto his left and curling it into the top corner. Adding to the goal, is the fact that he has looked like his the best version of himself, the one that played under Antonio Conte in Inter’s Scudetto winning season.
The left wing-back Federico Dimarco had also had a wonderful tournament, as he’s currently the second best assist man in the Champions League behind only Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. Dimarco recorded two assists on the night and was a constant threat getting forward on his left. The Italian was able to showcase what he does best – attacking the final third. Sometimes he has been criticised for leaving his defensive responsibilities in favour of making runs down the flank any time an opportunity presents itself, but against Benfica he was able to showcase all of his strengths.
More importantly than anything else, Lautaro Martínez finally scored a goal. The Argentine had gone eight matches in all competitions for Inter without finding the back of the net, which seems to have become a pattern in his career. While there’s no doubting the striker’s talent, he’s also an extremely streaky goalscorer. Take a look at Lautaro’s goal scoring logs throughout the last few seasons and a pattern emerges. He can go two months scoring a goal-a-game then follow it up with a two-month dry spell. Inter desperately needed their star man up front to finally find his form in the most important moment of the season thus far.
Inter now face Milan for a Derby Della Madonnina, Champions League edition that is tricky to predict. Both teams are in poor form domestically, mostly because of line-up rotations where they’re resting their best players for this European competition. Inter have already beaten Milan twice during the campaign ; a 1-0 win in Serie A and a 3-0 drubbing of their city-rivals in January’s Super Coppa. That was also during Milan’s worst run of form of the 21st century. The team looks completely different now under Stefano Pioli, playing much more like the side that won Serie A last season.
Serie A state of play
In Serie A, Juventus have had their 15 point deduction reversed (our league standings will be updated ASAP!), meaning that Inter and Milan currently sit outside the top four. The Bianconeri now jump back up the table and sit third going in to the weekend. The court’s decision can still be appealed, meaning that the true scope of the punishment might have to wait until next season.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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