Internazionale – AC Milan: With Ibra’s Brush, AC Milan Paint The City Red And Black (1-2)

Covid-19 stricken Inter faced AC Milan, who were full of confidence during a match in which Stefano Pioli’s defensive risks paid off. Despite a drop in intensity in the second half for yet another match, Antonio Conte’s team executed their tactical plan correctly, but were unable to get any points as they could not convert the opportunities they created.
Tactical analysis and match report by Thanos Chelas.

With two thirds of their defense unavailable, as both Alessandro Bastoni and Milan Škriniar tested positive for Covid-19, and, besides that, Ashley Young missing for the same reason, it was more than expected to see Antonio Conte pick the same defensive midfield trio for his 3-4-1-2/3-5-2 formation, as was the case in the match against Lazio. 

Forced to play two ex-fullbacks in center-back roles, namely Aleksandar Kolarov and Danilo D’Ambrosio, Conte picked two players that had already faced huge problems against Fiorentina.  On top of that, he had to select two very offensive-minded wing-backs: Achraf Hakimi and Ivan Perišić. It all ended up with Christian Eriksen sitting on the bench, once again, giving his place to players that can cover more space and are more reactive in the defensive transition phase. 

Stefano Pioli, on the other side, chose a first eleven we have seen many times since last January, as Franck Kessié and Ismael Bennacer protected . . .