Five Serie A sides went into the semi-finals of UEFA’s various midweek competitions and now three remain. Here’s a round-up of the action from our Italian football expert.
Calcio is back!
Inter were able to dominate Milan over two legs to secure a comfortable 3-0 aggregate advantage and book a ticket to Istanbul where they’ll face Manchester City in the Champions League final.
The feat is an incredible one for manager Simone Inzaghi, who has already won the Italian Super Cup earlier in 2023, and still has the Coppa Italia Final (against Fiorentina) to come.
The Inter squad has also got its best form at the same time. Romelu Lukaku isn’t just scoring and assisting, but looking like the best version of himself. The Belgian attacker has finally reclaimed the sharpness and quickness that made him one of the most feared players in Italy under Antonio Conte in the nerazzurri’s Scudetto winning season, two years ago. What’s helped Lukaku find his best form, along with his strike partner Lautaro Martínez, is manager Simone Inzaghi reverting back to old tactics that earned Inter their success.
At the start of the season, Inzaghi tried to revolutionise the club by playing a higher intensity, more open style of football. After a few months, Inzaghi realised that the team was conceding too many goals while not getting the best out of their attacking players, so he decided to go back to Inter’s DNA with this current crop – counter attacking, direct football. This is exactly the type of style that could give Manchester City problems.
Under Pep Guardiola, City is perhaps the best possession based side in the world, playing with high pressure when they lose the ball and sending loads of bodies forward on every attacking chance. Fighting fire with fire isn’t going to work for Inter, so the only way to have a chance against the might of City is to defend in a low block and limit the space for Erling Haaland to run in behind. Getting everyone behind the ball worked wonders for Inter already this season, as they were the first team to beat Napoli in the league after employing similar tactics back in January. The defensive approach is also the best way to unlock the striking pair of Lukaku and Martínez. The duo works so well together when they have space to attack or run into. City will inevitably play with a high line, which is why I think Lukaku has to start from the first minute.
In both semi-final legs against Milan, Inzaghi opted to start Edin Džeko and bring Lukaku in off the bench. The idea makes sense against a less talented team like Milan. Džeko can hold up the ball with his back to goal and is a facilitator for the rest of the team. However, the recent form of Lukaku and added dynamism should offer the edge against City.
Inter’s midfield will also have their work cut out for them. The good news for Inzaghi is he seems to be spoiled with options now that Hakan Çalhanoğlu has proven to be vital in two different positions. The Turkish midfielder’s form has been so impressive that Marcelo Brozović hasn’t been able to find his way back into the team as a regular starter. Brozović was arguably one of Inter’s three most important players in the last two seasons, but an injury midway through the year thrust Çalhanoğlu into his deep lying playmaker role. Nicolo Barella might have the most important job of all. The Italian midfielder will likely be tasked with applying constant pressure on any one of City’s creative midfielders. Barella’s stamina and defensive aggression will mostly be utilized over his ability to get into the final third and score or assist. Out of Inter’s midfielders, he’s by far their most relentless box to box presence.
While many in the media are giving Inter little chance of being able to upset Manchester City, it’ll be a game that’ll look much closer than some anticipated. City will undoubtedly be the favorites, but Inter’s recent stellar form and ability to defend (they’ve kept clean sheets in five of their last seven games) could give Pep Guardiola’s team a hard time in actually getting decent shooting attempts on goal.
The best case scenario for Inter is that this game plays out like the Nerazzurri’s win against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona back in 2010, when they went on to win the treble under José Mourinho. Barcelona had nearly all the possession but faced an incredibly defensive Inter team. The parallels between the two games could be eerily similar – Manchester City that are coached by the same manager, against an Inter team that will likely have no choice but to defend and employ a more conservative approach.
Roma and Fiorentina reach finals
José Mourinho’s Roma reached the Europa League final, their second consecutive European final under the Portuguese manager. Only a year after beating Feyenoord in the Conference League final, Mourinho now finds himself matched up with six time Europa League winners, Sevilla in a game that could give the Giallorossi the keys to Champions League football next season.
Roma’s pragmatic, defensive style under Mourinho made things difficult for Bayer Leverkusen in the semifinal. A staple of Roma’s game has been to take beauty from an aesthetic standpoint with their defending, as evidenced by the match statistics – 28% possession for the Italian side, as well as 1 shot to Leverkusen’s 23. It’s hard to play quick one-twos and triangles in the final third when you’re facing a team that is as aggressive and physically imposing as Mourinho’s side.
Meanwhile, Fiorentina’s dramatic late winner against Basel ensures that the Viola are back in a European final and will face Premier League side West Ham in the Conference League. The Viola play an attractive and offensive type of football under Vincenzo Italiano, which has seen them put on a few scoring masterclasses this calendar year. Fiore benefitted from a terrific performance from winger Nico González, who scored a brace in Switzerland to send the tie into extra-time. Basel thought they’d done enough to hold on for penalties but Antonín Barák knew otherwise, scoring the winner in the 129th minute.
(images from IMAGO)
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