Atalanta - Inter (16 Jan 22) [0-0]

To put it simple, Inter can win, lose or draw ANY given game. But I always expect us to win, regardless our form or roster.

Inter has a baptism by fire over the next month. To be champions you have to overcome adversity, this group may just have the mettle to succeed. FORZA INTER!

Gasperini said that Gosens and Zapata will be difficult to be recovered for Inter.

varmin said:

Gasperini said that Gosens and Zapata will be difficult to be recovered for Inter.

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They’ll be in the starting lineup guaranteed

As much as this is a spiky matchup for us, Atalanta are the ones that should be more worried.

We should come out, play our game and leave it to Gasperini to work out how to stop us.

thatdude said:

They’ll be in the starting lineup guaranteed

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Very unlikely that Gasperini risk starting Gosen rightaway after being out for several months.

I am quite anxious about this match. I would defo play Sanchez

Gds predicts Alexis and Darmian will start instead of Dzeko and Dumfries.

I think this is as 50-50 a game as any, but Inter have the edge coz of our mentality. 1-1 is very likely, but I wouldn't bet against Inter to find the winner in the final minutes.

In Sanchez & Calhanoglu we trust. 10 in a row pls.

I don't understand all the draw and loss talk. This is the defending champs who just made a bitch out of Rube! We outclass the competition with our talent and style. Every match should be an expected win. We will dominate Atalanta in their home and walk away with 3 points.
Forza Ragazzi

We are winning this one.

Woke up , having glimpses of Ngannou UFC heavyweight FC unbeatable vibes thinking of my Nerazzurri tomorrow. I think we gonna handmake a special 'panini alla gasperini' tomorrow night.

Andiamooo!!

Jnr said:

Woke up , having glimpses of Ngannou UFC heavyweight FC unbeatable vibes thinking of my Nerazzurri tomorrow. I think we gonna handmake a special 'panini alla gasperini' tomorrow night.

Andiamooo!!

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My man Gane getting that belt tho next Saturday!

Hyped for the game, cant wait for kick off.

Thickheaded Inzaghi might finally understood what kind of duo strikership we need.

Whenever I see Atalanta's lineup, I always wonder how they managed to reach UCL semifinal and only losing to PSG in dying minute before the latter unleashed the fcking Mbappe.

Irequis said:

Whenever I see Atalanta's lineup, I always wonder how they managed to reach UCL semifinal and only losing to PSG in dying minute before the latter unleashed the fcking Mbappe.

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They reached quarterfinal not semifinal.

They've found a good chemistry after playing several years under a specific system and the same coach. Gasperini is a good coach. I never judged him harshly for his time at Inter. The squad he got was not suited to his style and the club didn't support him at all. Gasperini and Inter were just a bad fit for each other at the time and the club should have never hired him in the first place when they were not supposed to give him the means to play his brand of football.

As for the CL, just like any other similar tournaments, you could reach higher stages base on the draw you get, and how good/bad you are over two legs. If you get a good draw and things go your way over two legs, it's not that hard to reach the higher stages or even win the whole thing. Just look at Real Madrid's route to the final in 2015-2016 season.

I couldn't believe how absurdly complacent we were in closing Malinovskyi down in the first match.

I think he's a gun of a player, but he's also very much a one-trick pony. He puts the ball on his left foot and blasts it. Everyone in the league knows this guy has a great shot, don't let him shoot from distance.

Inexplicably, of all teams, we alone repeatedly gave him ample time and space to take shot after shot after shot from outside our box. That blew my fucking mind. I've watched Atalanta plenty of times this season and literally every other team just kept a man on him or otherwise closed him down with urgency. That alone reduces his impact by 90% and it's not that fucken hard to do.

I'm also not sure why Darmian is starting over Dumfries. I don't know what Dumfries has done to deserve getting dropped nor do I believe that Darmian is notably better in defence. If anything, Dumfries is in a patch of good form and his athleticism could be a valuable asset against Atalanta's dynamic way of playing.

It might just be simple rotation but even if that is the case, I don't believe this is the game to rotate. Darmian can play against Empoli or Venezia. Whatever. Hopefully Dumfries has a good impact coming off the bench.

No other surprises with the lineup though. I'm glad Inzaghi has the sense to start Sanchez instead of Dzeko who has been incredibly disappointing in recent weeks, if not months.

NimAraya said:

They reached quarterfinal not semifinal.

They've found a good chemistry after playing several years under a specific system and the same coach. Gasperini is a good coach. I never judged him harshly for his time at Inter. The squad he got was not suited to his style and the club didn't support him at all. Gasperini and Inter were just a bad fit for each other at the time and the club should have never hired him in the first place when they were not supposed to give him the means to play his brand of football.

As for the CL, just like any other similar tournaments, you could reach higher stages base on the draw you get, and how good/bad you are over two legs. If you get a good draw and things go your way over two legs, it's not that hard to reach the higher stages or even win the whole thing. Just look at Real Madrid's route to the final in 2015-2016 season.

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Today Gasperini is rightfully considered among the upper echelon of currently active Italian coaches. Despite what I think of the guy, what he's achieved with Atalanta is monumental.

We obviously hired him before any of this, before he had earned his repute. That said, there was also a lot of arrogance on our part as well. Banteritis can be a difficult disease to identify and often, by the time it's been diagnosed, it's already terminal. (On a side note, this is why I'm so harsh on Suning these days, because I'm identifying concerning symptoms of Banteritis, such as selling your star player for €110m and buying a 35 year old replacement for €1.5m..)

I still remember at the time, there was an overwhelming disdain for what Gasperini wanted to do which permeated the entire club from top to bottom, from president to fanbase. Everyone considered his 3 man defense to be provincial and far beneath us, keeping in mind we were recently European Champions.

Palacio was also considered not good enough for us (this is true, but he certainly became good enough for us when we signed him a season later because by this point we had reduced the quality of the squad so devastatingly.)

This game has a 1:1 draw written all over it