DERBY OF FIRE
The match of many ideas.
The spurt of Bacca.
Medel at low height.
Here is Inter-Milan.
Mancini and Mihajlovic, two great friends against each other at San Siro.
Let's try to guess their winning moves.
What will be this derby? Difficult to say because there were smokescreens at Appiano and Milanello. It is not clear who will play as formations for both sides remain in doubt. Pretactical, that's what they called in the 60's. It will be a rich derby at least as Inter and Milan invested good amount of money. Both Milanese teams are thinking big again. Milanese believe, San Siro is sold out with almost 80 thousand fans expected and a box office record of 4 million euros. All are set. Let them entertain us.
Systems At Gazzetta headquarters on Friday, Mancini said that the 4-3-1-2 will be his base formation which can have several variations like 4-3-3 for example. The analysis is pretty easy to see because Perisic and Jovetic will dictate the changes in the attack. The three upfront, or rather two of three upfront, will rotate and the trident will change to 1-2 or 2-1 depending on the situations and needs. This natural transformation could create problems for their opponents to read. Sinisa Mihaljovic, moreover, has in mind a change that leaves us perplexed. Out De Jong and in Montolivo. Space in the lineup for the constructor returning from a long absence and a bench for the wrecker that is the Dutchman. Mihajlovic expects a constant 4-3-3 Inter but for the reasons mentioned above, Perisic and Jovetic are interchangeable, the area where Montolivo is could be critical.
Centimeters If Mancini really replaces Miranda with Medel and not Ranocchia, in the middle of Inter defense, the Nerazzurri will lack height. Medel, in Chilean national team, has demonstrated to be the master of the role but he is about 1.70 meters or so. So 10 centimeters less than Bacca and especially Luiz Adriano.
Muscles In the midfield, this question is reversed. The trio formed by Bonaventura, Montolivo and Kucka shows interiority of strength to the trio of Guarin, Melo and Kondogbia. Only Kucka is either on par or superior to the three Inter players. But tactics could topple this point of view. With Honda as trequartista, the Japanese is a hard worker and can track back to create numerical superiority for Milan. Attention to Melo, his last stats with Galatasaray are not encouraging: 16 lost balls and only 4 recovered, negative balance. Today, however, everything starts fresh. Certainly we will discover the impact that Melo, same with Perisic, will have in this Inter side.
Attack The key man for Milan in the attack is Carlos Bacca. Anyone that followed the TIM Cup in Reggio Emilia a month ago knows what we are talking about. The Colombian loves to take off from the center left of the attack. In that area, he has launched the largest number of balls in the first two matches, 28. To meet him today on that side will be Santon and one of Guarin and Brozovic. Brozovic is more defensive as an anti-Bacca option but the muscles of Guarin could tire out the player at the beginning.
Duel Perisic to play on the right, Bonaventura on the left, so same wing. We do not know how Perisic will do in Serie A, we will find out over time. Mancini said that Perisic is a player who can change the league, not just Inter. Huge statement. We already know Bonaventura, not exactly with great quality but he is effective in small doses. Perisic and Bonaventura will not face each other all the time during the game but their duel could turn the derby in one direction or another. Ljajic and Balotelli are your hottest substitutions. Ljajic, just arrived, seems to already be in great form so much so that there are talks of him starting from the beginning. The Serbian is already ahead of Palacio in the depth chart at Inter. Balotelli played and scored in the friendly in Mantova but remains a mysterious subject.