Inter - Juventus (4 Feb 24) [1-0]

[syrus]

Blowouts rarely happen in this fixture. Of course it would have been sweet but I will take any win over fuxkin gobbi.

Should of been 3-0 easily..

 

[PHM1605]

I feel an even harder match than Juve next. Not only at their home, but also on new coach honeymoon period with 3 all wins...

Yeah those are against relegation teams but not much for Inzaghi to figure him out either. New Strama question mark.

 

[#NotForMe]

I think they are manageable, as long as we are focus and don't do stupid shit.

The biggest changes for Roma is they have a way more functioning midfield, I will leave out the attacking part of the midfield, but they are quite interesting.
The way their midfield defends is no longer rhythm breaking, space occupying then create physical duels, but on timing overload pressing in midfield, (WB/CB press up) and compress the space oriented to take the ball; if the ball is too out of reach they form a shape protecting the direct dangerous route and track back.
When defending goal kick, play from the back for the other team, Lukaku is the first screen El Shaarawy & Dyballa tracks back and the other 3 midfielders presses up accordingly, with the D-line semi-man marking for any direct passes.

So if Toro and Thuram is in their game, they should be fucking them well, 2 CBs vs 2 CFs and also space freed up from their overloading midfield pressing or when they are holding shape to track back launch a more direct ball from the side of the midfield area - hope we might be able to see these moments when we exploit them.

They actually play well protecting the box, but they suck at playing out from the back, but they got better at using Lukaku as the target man by creating more space for his bad first touch, still Acerbi and Bastoni should bully the fuck out of him even 1 vs 1.
Also might be advantageous for us if Carlos and Dumfries goes up and El Shaarawy & Dyballa tracks them, can for sure physically bully them, not like usual WBs.

Just my 2 cents, they might be different when playing against a stronger opponent.

We should just let Simone cook, we need to keep winning every game.

 

[Puma]

Inter Milan’s triumph over Juventus leaves Serie A within their grasp​

By James Horncastle Feb 5, 2024

The symbol of Milan, golden and resplendent, is the little Madonna that casts an eye over the city from a pedestal atop the ivory-coloured gothic cathedral in Piazza del Duomo. On Sunday night, she underwent a terrifying makeover.

The choreography laid out by Inter Milan’s ultras in the Curva Nord depicted her as the Medusa from Greek mythology. A banner strewn over one of San Siro’s tiers warned that the “sad reality” for the poor men who met her gaze would be their petrification.

Time for Juventus to look away or don the ‘paraocchi’ (blinkers) their hippophile coach Massimiliano Allegri joked about a few weeks ago when he, once again, found parallels between a title race and a horse race. Allegri, like Carlo Ancelotti, has shares in a few racehorses. The jockey, Dario Di Tocco, led one of them, Lyricus, to victory at the Capannelle meet in November.

If Allegri were to invest in another, Perseus would be a good name, evoking the warrior who left the island of Seriphos with Medusa’s head, a moment in mythology immortalised on the shield Caravaggio painted for one of the Medicis in the 1590s.

The ultras’ version of the gorgon was not a masterpiece. At least not from the lateral stands at the Giuseppe Meazza where her visage was not clear from a side-on perspective. “What the f*** is it?” a colleague asked animatedly in the press box. If the intention was to turn Juventus into stone, the move worked, but not as the Inter ultras hoped.

The league leaders, one point ahead of their mortal enemies going into this top-of-the-table clash, spent nearly 40 minutes hitting an impregnable wall. Inter’s possession at times approximated 80 per cent, but they crashed against Juventus’ concrete and Corcovado-like protectors, the Brazilians Danilo and Gleison Bremer. Even when Hakan Calhanoglu drilled a pass straight through their defence from inside his own half, Bremer was on hand to block Marcus Thuram from reaching Federico Dimarco’s cutback.

Serie A’s top scorer, Lautaro Martinez — 19 goals in 20 games — had a quiet game by his standards. His opposite number, on the other hand, the in-form Dusan Vlahovic, had his Perseus moment only for his sword to drop and clatter to the ground just as Medusa exposed her neck. The Serb’s clumsy first touch ruined an acute one-on-one created by renaissance man Weston McKennie, who, this season, has revealed himself to be so much more than an American sent to Italy as a kind of gastro-anarchist with a penchant for such no-nos as pasta with chicken, pesto and tomatoes.

The only goal of the game wasn’t in bad taste, nor did it come against the run of play.

Inter had tried everything to break down the five-man Juventus back line. Dimarco, an ultra in boots, was given the licence to play as a shadow striker running across and in behind the Juventus defence from the left. The outstanding Benjamin Pavard, a defender, played box-to-box. He was the one attempting a bicycle kick and causing a rare moment of confusion in the Juventus penalty area when Nicolo Barella’s cross found its way through to Marcus Thuram. Thuram forced Federico Gatti, a former bricklayer, to score his second own goal of the season.

It was Juventus’ first defeat (and only their second all season) since Gatti’s last own goal away to Sassuolo, 17 games ago, in September. Before falling behind, Juventus had replied to the Nord’s Medusa with some Ancient Greek of their own, defending like the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, tactics that, for some, are anything but modern.

Inter’s lead forced Juventus to come out, but Allegri was limited in what he could do. Kenan Yildiz, the wonderkid who had yet to make his first Serie A start when these two sides played in Turin last November, returned to the starting line-up following the criticism Allegri copped for leaving him out in the 1-1 draw with Empoli last weekend.

Chasing a goal, Allegri then decided to replace him with Federico Chiesa, who wasn’t fit enough to start after completing only two training sessions in two weeks. Could Allegri not have taken off a midfielder instead and gone with both of them behind Vlahovic?

Could he have brought on another striker?

Arkadiusz Milik was suspended after his red card a week ago and Moise Kean wasn’t in the right frame of mind after Atletico Madrid flew him over to Spain for a medical and then chose not to loan him after all. Still, Juventus were able to have a good spell around the hour mark but only mustered one shot on target all game. “We allowed one counter-attack,” Inter manager Simone Inzaghi said with pride. “Yann Sommer stayed on his toes but he had a nice rest tonight.”

Inter, meanwhile, went through the gears. “They transition with great precision,” Allegri complimented them. In the end, this Derby d’Italia could have ended 2-0 or 3-0. “The game remained open because (goalkeeper) Wojciech Szczesny had an unbelievable game,” Inzaghi said.

On the occasion Barella found himself all alone at the far post, smashing home a shot in front of the Nord, Szczesny somehow got in the way, just as he did when Marko Arnautovic had an opportunity to put the game beyond all doubt a few minutes from the end. It was a reminder — and one does feel necessary outside of Italy — that Szczesny is one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

Allegri said his players were “angry” afterwards “because we lost a game we could have turned around”. Greater regret has to derive from last week’s unexpected slip-up against Empoli. Had Juventus won against the relegation battlers rather than drawn 1-1, they would have gone into Sunday’s game in front of Inter.

Now they find themselves four points behind and at a disadvantage in the head-to-head tiebreaker. Inter also have a game in hand and, as tough as Atalanta look, Inzaghi’s team have been perfect in 2024, winning six games from six and a trophy (the Supercoppa Italiana in Riyadh).

As the players joined hands and ran under the Nord at full time, it was hard to see this team not celebrating a 20th league title in May and stitching the coveted and commemorative second star on their shirts. But Inzaghi refused to get carried away. “In other leagues with this number of wins, we’d be at least 10 points clear.” Instead, 16 games are left and Inter could tire. “They’ve played 24 times, we’ve played 30,” Inzaghi said on the eve of Sunday’s match.

What remains of this month is a case in point. Juventus play Udinese, Hellas Verona and Frosinone. And that’s it. Take maximum points and they might thrust themselves back into this title race. Inter, by contrast, go to a revived Roma, face a couple of relegation battlers (Salernitana and Lecce) either side of Atletico Madrid’s visit to San Siro — games for which the rotations are difficult to judge — then play their game in hand against Atalanta. Nevertheless, this squad is deep and talented enough to cope.

The only quibble reporters had with Inzaghi on Sunday was his penultimate substitution — an incoming hair regrowth specialist Davy Klaassen for the outgoing Barella. Why not Italy international Davide Frattesi? “Davy deserves more space,” Inzaghi said. “He’s scored more than 100 goals in his career.” It’s like splitting Medusa’s hairs. Questioning Inzaghi at the peak of his powers is a dangerous business.

This game was billed as his and Inter’s biggest since the Champions League final in Istanbul and the light show beforehand made it feel that way. Not only did Inter prevail in the Derby d’Italia — but Medusa saw off Perseus and can now see what she always wanted.

A second star is almost within grasp, another page in Inter mythology waits to be written.

Inter Milan's triumph over Juventus leaves Serie A within their grasp

Inter Milan overcame Juventus on Sunday to go four points clear at the top of Serie A

theathletic.com

 

[Stefan]

I have impresion that Simone does not like Frattesi. Actually, he does not like young players. Asllani, Biseck, Buchanan... Why he does not give them more time to play? I think that Simone has chicken mentality. Ok, we are winning games, but we must play much, much better. Result without nice play is borring.

You must be a very new Inter fan. This is the best playing style Inter I have ever seen and I have watched every team since 1997.

Frattesi's passing isn't at the standard of the starters. He needs to improve if he wants to start.

Bisseck and asllani have gotten their minutes this season. They aren't starting above pavard & Hakan. Buchanan needs tactical integration as Limone mentioned, he will be used when he is ready.

At Inter winning is what matters. Winning is never boring.

 

[Stefan]

They pushed Chiesa to return early and now he's injured again.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1754282718748184859

He has been injured 8 times already this season. Whether they push or not guy is now competing with Sensi for injury proness.

 

[Mikele]

You must be a very new Inter fan. This is the best playing style Inter I have ever seen and I have watched every team since 1997.

Frattesi's passing isn't at the standard of the starters. He needs to improve if he wants to start.

Bisseck and asllani have gotten their minutes this season. They aren't starting above pavard & Hakan. Buchanan needs tactical integration as Limone mentioned, he will be used when he is ready.

At Inter winning is what matters. Winning is never boring.

I was kid, when I watched on TV Yugoslavia-Italia on Euro 1968. I was impresed with Sandro Macola, and became Inter fan.

 

[Kramerica Industries]

has revealed himself to be so much more than an American sent to Italy as a kind of gastro-anarchist with a penchant for such no-nos as pasta with chicken, pesto and tomatoes.

I need an Italian to tell me why this is a faux pas.

 

[Alex de Large]

You must be a very new Inter fan. This is the best playing style Inter I have ever seen and I have watched every team since 1997.

Frattesi's passing isn't at the standard of the starters. He needs to improve if he wants to start.

Bisseck and asllani have gotten their minutes this season. They aren't starting above pavard & Hakan. Buchanan needs tactical integration as Limone mentioned, he will be used when he is ready.

At Inter winning is what matters. Winning is never boring.

This.

 

[brehme1989]

I need an Italian to tell me why this is a faux pas.

Two reasons mainly, although Italians do eat chicken with pasta. But it's subtle.

Main is that chicken wasn't really standard Italian cuisine stuff. I mean, chicken with noodles is pretty standard and let's be honest, almost the same thing there.

On another note, chicken and pasta tend to have a similar texture, at least according to your average Italian grandmother, so it's not really a good combination. Italians don't tend to mix their food with a ton of ingredients, so each one matters. If it's just 3 and the cook thinks that two of them are alike, they're not using one of them. And guess which isn't used when the dish concept is pasta


But mainly they're upset because Americans love chicken and spin everything with a chicken variation, so it's just a mini protest of theirs

 

[YoramG]

The symbol of Milan, golden and resplendent, is the little Madonna that casts an eye over the city from a pedestal atop the ivory-coloured gothic cathedral in Piazza del Duomo. On Sunday night, she underwent a terrifying makeover.

The choreography laid out by Inter Milan’s ultras in the Curva Nord depicted her as the Medusa from Greek mythology. A banner strewn over one of San Siro’s tiers warned that the “sad reality” for the poor men who met her gaze would be their petrification.

Time for Juventus to look away or don the ‘paraocchi’ (blinkers) their hippophile coach Massimiliano Allegri joked about a few weeks ago when he, once again, found parallels between a title race and a horse race. Allegri, like Carlo Ancelotti, has shares in a few racehorses. The jockey, Dario Di Tocco, led one of them, Lyricus, to victory at the Capannelle meet in November.

If Allegri were to invest in another, Perseus would be a good name, evoking the warrior who left the island of Seriphos with Medusa’s head, a moment in mythology immortalised on the shield Caravaggio painted for one of the Medicis in the 1590s.

Well, that's just excellent writing.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[.h.]

A bit too try hard tbh

 

[YoramG]

A bit too try hard tbh

Eh, I like it when sports journalists try to do something a little interesting and I'm a big sucker for mythical parallels to relatively mundane stuff like football, so this passage felt like it was written with me in mind.

But I do see how it could come across as quite cheesy.

 

[.h.]

Eh, I like it when sports journalists try to do something a little interesting and I'm a big sucker for mythical parallels to relatively mundane stuff like football, so this passage felt like it was written with me in mind.

But I do see how it could come across as quite cheesy.

Fair enough. For me it reads like someone who was hoping to be an award winning English scholar or writer and is resentful the best they could get was a football journalism job

I like my football articles easy to read and to the point. Being awash in metaphors doesn't help for me at least

 

[Black Knight]

For me it reads like someone who was hoping to be an award winning English scholar or writer

With sentences like this:

an incoming hair regrowth specialist Davy Klaassen for the outgoing Barella.

No wonder he didn't win any literary awards.

 

[CafeCordoba]

The penalty incident isn't discussed yet?

Danilo bringing down Thuram in the box.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1754311432533946423

I can see there is a slight touch on the ball by Danilo right before it touches Thuram. But honestly, is it really that after you touch the ball, it's a free game after that? (ehm, Sommer?)

Because what I see from that is Danilo touches the ball, doesn't get the possession of it, doesn't play it away from the play or anything like that. Instead after that touch, his studs has contact to Thuram's foot and then he brings down Thuram with two-legged tripping. I don't know about you guys but for me that's a fucking penalty.

 

[_OC_]

The penalty incident isn't discussed yet?

Danilo bringing down Thuram in the box.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1754311432533946423

I can see there is a slight touch on the ball by Danilo right before it touches Thuram. But honestly, is it really that after you touch the ball, it's a free game after that? (ehm, Sommer?)

Because what I see from that is Danilo touches the ball, doesn't get the possession of it, doesn't play it away from the play or anything like that. Instead after that touch, his studs has contact to Thuram's foot and then he brings down Thuram with two-legged tripping. I don't know about you guys but for me that's a fucking penalty.

That's never in a million years a penalty. The contact is simply way, way, way too soft.

The problem, however, and a rant incoming, with the current ongoing, ingrained narrative, is that if that had been our defender tackling a Juventus attacker and them not getting a penalty, or if that had indeed been called a penalty, people, and the media especially, would be up in arms, calling the league falsified a hundred times over, nullifying the match result itself. This was the most tame, uncontroversial Inter - Juventus match that I can remember, and still, people are posting Marotta-league nonsense all over Social Media because... I'm not sure, maybe Danilo got that yellow card that he really shouldn't have had?

Just look at the general response after the Fiorentina match, for instance. The same sort of people that called Sommer/N'Zola a clear penalty (and I can be persuaded as to why) are the same people that didn't say anything last season or the season before when Maignan clearly punched Lovato without getting near the ball. Not only that, but they are also berating VAR and the referee team for not giving Ranieri a penalty for throwing his hands up in the air and purposely falling over after the tugging match - that happens fifty times over any and every match - that he himself initiated with Bastoni. "Clear and obvious mistake," they shout, not caring about this similar, but way more egregious situation in the Juve-Fiorentina match.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1721412642558890222

Even then, and perhaps even worse, they also wanted Lautaro's goal chalked off for that ridiculous Parisi-flop. There's almost literally not a major referee decision that doesn't go the way of whoever Inter is playing, that the media can accept at this point.

Yes, we've been given the most penalties (and off the top of my head, I can only think of the Thuram one against Frosinone that seemed kind of sketchy by the way he sought the contact of a player he could've easily avoided), but unlike when Milan got the record-setting 20 penalties in one season (and I'm willing to bet we won't get near that), now everything is corrupt and we're blatantly cheating apparently. Also, no one mentions that we've conceded four penalties - one being Darmian slightly touching Dany Mota, the other being Magnani flailing and falling over on his own accord literally 2 seconds after he was touched. Could you imagine the outrage had we received those? Instead, not a peep. Also, do you know who hasn't had a penalty awarded against them, just as a point of reference? You get one guess. Is it mentioned, anywhere, ever? Illing Junior - who assisted shortly after, by the way - against Bologna is the clearest red card for taking away a clear goal-scoring opportunity and penalty, but that was quickly swept under the rug by the same institutions that turned Bastoni/Duda (yes, could've been called) into the new Zapruder film. Gatti literally knocks out Kvicha, then Djuric? Ehh, who cares. Just yesterday, Roma got served a penalty for Petagna having his hand at his literal chest yesterday. Outrage non-existent.

tldr; Everyone wants us to fail, and if we're winning (best defense in Europe, best goal difference in Europe, most clean sheets, so on and so forth), you can be certain that the media and everyone else will be sure to undermine it. When Juventus won 9 in a row, they were callous, clinical, Fino alle Fine. When Milan won the weakest Scudetto of all time (still, credit to them, we bottled it) they were fast-paced, underdog story, Pioli is on Fire. Now, we're carried by the referees, if you were to trust CdS, TS, GdS and every other fanbase you can ask. You even had Napoli rooting for Juventus after we beat them in the Supercoppa for goodness' sake, that's how much people have bought into a manufactured narrative.

 

[RickyMaravilla'sRightFoot]

The penalty incident isn't discussed yet?

Danilo bringing down Thuram in the box.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1754311432533946423

I can see there is a slight touch on the ball by Danilo right before it touches Thuram. But honestly, is it really that after you touch the ball, it's a free game after that? (ehm, Sommer?)

Because what I see from that is Danilo touches the ball, doesn't get the possession of it, doesn't play it away from the play or anything like that. Instead after that touch, his studs has contact to Thuram's foot and then he brings down Thuram with two-legged tripping. I don't know about you guys but for me that's a fucking penalty.

Thuram touches it first as far as I can tell. I also can't believe more people aren't talking about that incident. I actually know exactly why-- most major sports media in Italy is pro-Juve, yet we are the conspirators.

 

[Kramerica Industries]

That's never in a million years a penalty. The contact is simply way, way, way too soft.

The problem, however, and a rant incoming, with the current ongoing, ingrained narrative, is that if that had been our defender tackling a Juventus attacker and them not getting a penalty, or if that had indeed been called a penalty, people, and the media especially, would be up in arms, calling the league falsified a hundred times over, nullifying the match result itself. This was the most tame, uncontroversial Inter - Juventus match that I can remember, and still, people are posting Marotta-league nonsense all over Social Media because... I'm not sure, maybe Danilo got that yellow card that he really shouldn't have had?

Just look at the general response after the Fiorentina match, for instance. The same sort of people that called Sommer/N'Zola a clear penalty (and I can be persuaded as to why) are the same people that didn't say anything last season or the season before when Maignan clearly punched Lovato without getting near the ball. Not only that, but they are also berating VAR and the referee team for not giving Ranieri a penalty for throwing his hands up in the air and purposely falling over after the tugging match - that happens fifty times over any and every match - that he himself initiated with Bastoni. "Clear and obvious mistake," they shout, not caring about this similar, but way more egregious situation in the Juve-Fiorentina match.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1721412642558890222

Even then, and perhaps even worse, they also wanted Lautaro's goal chalked off for that ridiculous Parisi-flop. There's almost literally not a major referee decision that doesn't go the way of whoever Inter is playing, that the media can accept at this point.

Yes, we've been given the most penalties (and off the top of my head, I can only think of the Thuram one against Frosinone that seemed kind of sketchy by the way he sought the contact of a player he could've easily avoided), but unlike when Milan got the record-setting 20 penalties in one season (and I'm willing to bet we won't get near that), now everything is corrupt and we're blatantly cheating apparently. Also, no one mentions that we've conceded four penalties - one being Darmian slightly touching Dany Mota, the other being Magnani flailing and falling over on his own accord literally 2 seconds after he was touched. Could you imagine the outrage had we received those? Instead, not a peep. Also, do you know who hasn't had a penalty awarded against them, just as a point of reference? You get one guess. Is it mentioned, anywhere, ever? Illing Junior - who assisted shortly after, by the way - is the clearest red card for taking away a clear goal-scoring opportunity and penalty, but that was quickly swept under the rug by the same institutions that turned Bastoni/Duda (yes, could've been called) into the new Zapruder film. Gatti literally knocks out Kvicha, then Djuric? Ehh, who cares. Just yesterday, Roma got served a penalty for Petagna having his hand at his literal chest yesterday. Outrage non-existent.

tldr; Everyone wants us to fail, and if we're winning (best defense in Europe, second goal difference in Europe, most clean sheets, so on and so forth), you can be sure the media and everyone else will be sure to undermine it. When Juventus won 9 in a row, they were callous, clinical, Fino alle Fine. When Milan won the weakest Scudetto of all time (still, credit to them, we bottled it) they were fast-paced, underdog story, Pioli is on Fire. Now, we're carried by the referees, if you were to trust CdS, TS, GdS and every other fanbase you can ask. You even had Napoli rooting for Juventus after we beat them in the Supercoppa for goodness' sake, that's how much people have bought into a manufactured narrative.

tl;dr - #MarottaLeague

 

[CafeCordoba]

Thuram touches it first as far as I can tell. I also can't believe more people aren't talking about that incident. I actually know exactly why-- most major sports media in Italy is pro-Juve, yet we are the conspirators.

If you look it closely Danilo gets the first touch the ball.

But explain it to me @_OC_ how is that not a foul what Danilo is doing? What is he doing in that play? He gets a piece of the ball, slightly, and after that it's just foul after another. First the touch to Thuram's foot. Okay, maybe that's not a foul, contact is minimal. But how that two-legged tripping is normal contact? Why that's not a foul?

With the same logic of getting the ball first and after that, you can do whatever you want, why the Sommer punch was a foul?