Internazionale – Sampdoria: Inter Dominate But Only Take Narrow Win (2-1)

After their elimination from the Coppa Italia, Inter took an important win against Sampdoria in an encounter full of tactical adjustments by both sides. Antonio Conte’s men dominated the first half, taking a 2-0 lead, but almost ended up losing the three points as their intensity dropped in the second half and Claudio Ranieri’s Sampdoria took more risks.

Tactical analysis and match report by Thanos Chelas.

Antonio Conte made only one change from his team’s starting formation against Napoli, as Roberto Gagliardini came in for the injured Marcelo Brozović. Inter played in a 3-4-1-2 formation, with a set of offensive wing-backs in Ashley Young and Antonio Candreva flanking a defense comprising of Milan Škriniar, Stefan de Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni. Ahead of them sat the pivot of Roberto Gagliardini and Nicolò Barella with Christian Eriksen in front, just behind the striker duo of Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martínez.

Claudio Ranieri, on the other side, changed from his usual 4-4-2 formation and organized his team in a 5-3-2 shape in order to better deal with Inter’s attacking duo. Sampdoria saw their three center-backs Bartosz Bereszyński, Maya Yoshida and Omar Colley protecting the goalkeeper Emil Audero. Morten Thorsby and Nicola Murru were the wing-backs with Andrea Bertolacci sitting in front of the defense. A few meters in front of him, played Jakub Jankto and Karol Linetty, while up top, the atypical striker duo of Antonino La Gumina and Gastón Ramírez was leading . . .