Well I’m definitely more hyped than I was in the 1st leg, but am I hyped-hyped? No. But maybe that’ll change at kickoff. I mean, it’s always nice to beat Inter, right?…
MATCHDAY:
LAST FIVE
INTER: DWWDL
MILAN: LDDWL
FORMATIONS
INTER (3-5-2): Martínez; Bisseck, de Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella (C), Asllani, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro, Taremi
MILAN (3-4-3): Maignan (C); Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Jimenez, Fofana, Reijnders, Hernández; Pulisic, Jović, Leão
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 3pm EST/7pm GMT
PLACE: San Siro, Milano
WHERE TO WATCH:
Paramount+ and FuboTV here in the US of Aye (Spanish broadcast on Fox Deportes in the US); FuboTV and TLN for Canada; TNT in the UK (maybe?); ESPN for Mexico; DAZN for Germany, Austria, Switzerland; a website called GXR for our friends in India; and illegal streams that support dictators and oligarchs everywhere.
*Let us know if this needs updating or if you have additional broadcasters to add*
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
What more can I say than what I said after their 1st meeting this season…or the 2nd…or the 3rd…or the 4th? This anti-Pioli approach, coming from that bum Fonseca or Conceição has simply worked. Milan tends to do better with teams who play open anyway and combined with not playing the very risky high line, Milan has matched up SOOOO much better this season.
Both Fonseca and Conceição have deployed a hybrid formation approach. For Fonseca in his lone meeting with Inter, he went with a 4-4-2 that would switch between that and a 4-2-4 with both the midfield and forward line not very far from the back 4. It was a super compact formation to crowd out the midfield. Conceição has done it differently, as he has preferred tucking the RW along the back 4 while in defense and often with 4 in the midfield to wipe away Inter’s strong preference to overload that area. We’ve seen a modified version of this since Conceição has gone to the 3-man back and I don’t think he has to change much in this game to accommodate their new formation. But regardless of the formation, both coaches focused on crowding out the midfield first, then focused on crowding out Inter’s left side with Dimarco and Bastoni to limit their damage. The results speak for themselves.
Attacking-wise, Milan has leaned, rightfully, on Leão but strangely he only has 1 assist against them this season. Still, anyone who has watched the games knows how well and how much he has impacted every game. Milan also has gotten solid games from Pulisic and Abraham in almost every game, each with 2 goals against Inter this season, with Pulisic contributing an assist as well. I wouldn’t mind Milan going back to this well and using it until it doesn’t work anymore.
With every game close so far, I would expect both Milan and Inter to come out doing many of the same things we’ve seen. Yes, it’s true Inter may place this game 3rd on their list of priorities as they are strong contenders in Champions League with a favorable semifinal matchup against Barcelona, with the 1st leg next week, as well as being tied at the top of the table in Serie A (although sitting 1st on tiebreakers). But once the game kicks off, whether fielding their best possible lineup or not, you know they’ll want to beat Milan so expect a dogfight.
Predictions
I have no idea. Milan has been playing better but this is a Derby della Madonnina. It doesn’t matter that Inter might be tired and saving themselves for the league this weekend and Champions League next week. Adrenaline will kick in and we’ll have ourselves a battle.
A win and Milan might be 1 step closer to backdooring into Europe. A loss and it’ll be a long May.
Let’s go beat some merda out of merda.
Forza Milan
gillis