Atalanta-Inter 0-0: Inzaghi’s team could lose the lead

Occasions and emotions but no goals in Bergamo. Milan can now take away the primacy of Inzaghi’s team

A hail of opportunities, spectacular saves, fine games and scattered waste, but Bergamo is missing the most important guest at the party: the goal. Neither Atalanta, courageous but penalized by too many absences, nor Inter, authoritarian as they always know now. The Italian champions had always put her in in the last 39 of the championship and this makes the score very unusual. This amusing 0-0, all in all, could make Gasp happy, but it does not make Inter despair, which interrupts a journey paved by eight consecutive victories. Now Milan will be able to overcome it at the top with one more match, but Inzaghi’s team comes out well from one of the most difficult away matches of the second round.

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choices

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Among probable Covid cases and injuries, Gasperini is missing seven: Toloi, Maehle, Hateboer, Gosens, Ilicic, Malinovskyi and Zapata. The Atalanta coach is also revolutionary in tactics: 4-2-3-1 with Djimsiti from right back, Demiral-Palomino central centurions, Pezzella on the left, De Roon and Freuler midfield hinge and the trio Pessina-Koopmeiners-Pasalic behind Muriel. The re-established Sportiello, Zappacosta and Piccoli extend a bench made up for more than half by players born from 2001 onwards. Simone Inzaghi, after the 120 ‘on Wednesday that gave him the first cup of the season, needs to take precautions and give breath here and there: so in defense D’Ambrosio appears for the squeezed De Vrij, on the right Darmian makes Dumfries catch his breath and in attack there is Sanchez freed from the cage together with Dzeko, with Lautaro out of the holders.

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the start

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Even with this new outfit, Atalanta always remains itself and comes on with the usual vehemence: the pressure is high, intense, with the now famous all-out hand-to-hand duel. Thus, the scoring in midfield becomes strategic: Koopmeiners tries to keep Brozovic at bay, while Freuler and De Roon raise their antennas on Barella and Calhanoglu. But even Inter is now so solid that it no longer deviates from the main road: even on evenings like these, difficult for the intensity of the rivals, they want to get out of their own area with phrasing, even if a bit of post-fog. Supercoppa is almost natural. Where brilliance is lacking, quality is therefore needed: when they manage to get out with the ball, the Nerazzurri know how to approach the enemy walls dangerously. It is no coincidence that Inter have the greatest opportunities of the first half: Dzeko wastes his head, on a cross from Brozo, and then his foot, not serving Darmian, while a right foot from Sanchez from a very inviting position leads Musso to a miracle of instinct ( even if before there was a foul not whistled). The Goddess, on the other hand, moves forward with the usual boldness, but the last step is missing to pocket the ball, also because Inzaghi’s three defenders always put their foot down at the right time. At the end of the day, at first rather balanced, he doesn’t scratch either of the two long-awaited Latin goblins: both Muriel and Sanchez have had better evenings.

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the recovery

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The second fraction opens with such a great opportunity for Gasp: the systematic pressure on Brozo finally brings good results and the recovered ball then arrives on Pessina’s feet, also thanks to a slip by Barella. The foot is not the right one, but the blue’s right foot does not enter the net just because Handanovic comes out great: he will also feel the breath on the neck of Onana, the Nerazzurri goalkeeper of the future, but on certain occasions the Slovenian’s big hands still make the difference . The Atalantine occasion is the sign that the balance is very fragile and it takes very little to shift the scales to one side or the other. After an imperial play by Dzeko, on which Pezzella sacrifices himself to anticipate Darmian with an empty net, Inzaghi calls the cavalry. Triple change: Dumfries-Vidal-Correa for Darmian-Calha-Sanchez. The new forces make themselves felt, and how: the Dutchman, with a header, gives Dzeko yet another good ball of the evening, perhaps the easiest. Edin, who engages all the defense of Gasp alone, is however much less cold than usual in front of goal. Then it is the other newcomer, Vidal, who dirties the gloves of the excellent Musso from a distance. On the other side of the field, Handanovic does the rest: he saves with another super intervention on Muriel who, on the counterattack, picks the ball from a breathless Bastoni and crosses very well. Then Samir repeats himself on Pasalic, for the whole game a mosquito in the Inter area. The last flash of the race, however, is on the feet you don’t expect: D’Ambrosio, unmarked at the end of the game by a Barella illusionist’s heel, is not the most suitable man to turn the last chance into gold. This evening the ball just does not want to enter.

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