Inter - Milan: More debt piled up
At the San Siro field a week ago, as an away team, Inter solved the semi-final first leg in just the first 11 minutes thanks to Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Scoring twice in 10 minutes and 16 seconds, Inter became the third fastest two-goal team in the Champions League semi-finals, behind only Juventus against Man Utd in 1999 and Man Utd against Arsenal in 2009, the same after 10 minutes and 15 seconds.
In addition, with Dzeko and Mkhitaryan, Inter became the first club to have two players over 34 years old score in a Champions League knockout match. In particular, with 37 years and 54 days, Dzeko is currently the second oldest player to shoot in the knockout match of the Champions League, only after Ryan Giggs in the semi-final match of Man Utd against Schalke on April 26, 2011 with 37 years old. 148 days.
Inter confidently aim for that feat, when they are in the highest form in Serie A, not the new champion Napoli. The army under Simone Inzaghi won the last seven matches in all competitions, including five matches in Serie A to return to the Top 4 race. They also won Juventus 1-0 in the second leg of the Italian Cup semi-final and won Milan in the semi-finals. Champions League first leg. Before this series of matches, Inter performed badly when winning one, drawing four and losing four out of nine matches in all competitions.
In contrast, Milan have won two, drawn four and lost two of their last eight matches in all competitions, since a 1-0 win over Napoli in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final. Over the weekend, coach Stefano Pioli's teachers and students lost 0-2 at the club's stadium, which is racing for relegation to Spezia and the risk of being absent from the Champions League next season. They are currently fifth in Serie A with 61 points, four points behind fourth-placed Lazio, with three rounds remaining in the season.
Milan's hope of overthrowing almost depends on the ability to play Rafael Leao - the striker missed the last two matches because of a muscle injury. But in addition to the Portuguese star, Milan is certainly absent Rade Krunic, Ismael Bennacer, and Junior Messias and Alexis Saelemaekers leave open the possibility of playing.
Meanwhile, Inter showed the quality and depth of the squad. Last week, coach Simone Inzaghi placed the duo of Romelu Lukaku and Joaquin Correa in the 2-0 win over Roma in Serie A, and then used two strikers Lautaro Martinez and Edin Dzeko in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.
Over the weekend, the Italian coach continued to use Lukaku and Correa to start the match against Sassuolo 4-2 in the 35th round of Serie A. Most likely, the Martinez - Dzeko duo will give the opportunity again at San Siro today.
Opta's supercomputer rates Inter higher with a 48.5% chance of winning again today, compared with Milan's 24.4%. But in that, the probability of teachers and students Pioli winning with the result to go on is only 5.5%.
Even if they create a miracle at the San Siro today, Milan is assessed by Opta as having only a 1.4% chance of winning the eighth European Cup/Champions League at Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul on June 10, regardless of opponents. The player is Man City or Real Madrid.
If the advantage is preserved, Inter will enter the Champions League final for the first time since the historic 2009-2010 season under Jose Mourinho. At that time, Inter beat Bayern in the Champions League final, crowned both Serie A and the Italian Cup, thereby becoming the first Italian club to win the treble in one season.
Inzaghi's Inter cannot replicate the feat of colleague Mourinho, but there is still a chance to win the treble this season. They won the Italian Super Cup, took advantage of the Champions League final and also the Italian Cup final against Fiorentina on May 24 in Rome.
