Juventus 1-1 Inter Milan, No Victor in the Derby d’Italia but Plenty of Entertainement
Like the TLN commentators declared at the end of the game, “what a great hallmark for Serie A soccer”. The much anticipated ‘Derby d’Italia’ ended on a tied 1-1 scoreline, but despite the fairly low goaltotal, the match sure wasn’t devoid of excitement and beautiful plays. These were two teams well in control of their playing style, Inter with their fast-paced short passing game, and Juve with their often lethal wing attacks.
What the Nerazzurri put on the table in terms of technical prowess, the Bianconeri equaled with great character. For anyone knowing the ‘Old Lady’, it should come as no surprise that Ranieri’s men never let go during the game, despite conceding the first goal shortly before half-time (courtesy of ‘El Jardinero’ Julio Cruz, once again). Confident with their lead, Inter entrenched themselves behind an iron-tight defense, but in the end the Bianconeri’s efforts were well rewarded with the equalizing goal of Mauro Camoranesi (who had just come on as a substitute). Great stuff from the Stadio Olimpico of Turin.
The tactical formations for both teams left little in the way of surprises: Juventus operated with their usual 4-4-2 line-up, with Cristiano Zanetti and Antonio Nocerino into the heart of the midfield and Nedved/Palladino on the wings (Camoranesi still lacking match fitness). Up front, the task of scoring goals was left to the Del Piero-Trezeguet duo.
On the opposite end, plagued-by-injury Inter manned soccer’s most classic formation as well. The absences of Patrick Vieira and Dejan Stankovic (not to mention that of Adriano due to tactical choice) forced Roberto Mancini to field Javier Zanetti in a fairly uncommon central midfielder role, but the Argentine partnered very well with fellow national teammate Esteban Cambiasso. The rest of the Nerazzurri’s offensive duties were put on the shoulders of Figo/Cesar for wing attacks, and Zlatan-Cruz for the finishing touch.
Read the rest of the match report here
.gif) |
.gif) |
|
| GOALSCORERS: 41’ Cruz (I), 77’ Camoranesi (J) | ||
| JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Buffon – Grygera (78’ Zebina), Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro – Palladino, Nocerino, C.Zanetti, Nedved (61’ Iaquinta) – Trezeguet, Del Piero (70’ Camoranesi). (bench: Belardi, Birindelli, Tiago, Salihamidzic). Coach: Ranieri. | ||
| INTER (4-4-2): Julio Cesar – Maicon (86’ Dacourt), Cordoba, Samuel, Chivu – Figo (62’ Burdisso), J.Zanetti, Cambiasso, Cesar – Ibrahimovic, Cruz (65’ Suazo). (bench: Orlandoni, Maxwell, Solari, Crespo). Coach: R.Mancini. | ||
Marco Pantanella writes for the mCalcio blog
Ok, I haven’t read the article yet,but I can see in your tittle that something is wrong.
I have watched the game and it was unfuckingbelievable boring game. I literally (I’m not lying) fell asleep around 35. min till the second half.
I don’t understand what’s wrong with this Italians, so many great player but I can’t believe that they can’t pass the ball around the middlefield. Players don’t have idea, not 1% imagination. Second half was little better, but overall I don’t like it. I can’t remember when was the last time I watched good game when Juventus play at home against Milan or Inter.
Buffon saved Juve’s ass big time…………
We could have won, but Buffon and Chiellini were brilliant and seriously saved Juve. I thought Inter were better overall, but not by much. Juve did do well.
Julio Cruz is often overlooked due to his more illustrious teammates in the Inter strike force. But he always seems to score important goals. I thought that the tactical choice to partner Cruz with Zlatan Ibrahimovic was quite interesting by Roberto Mancini.
I agree with the assessment above about Gigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini; however, with the late introduction of Mauro Camoranesi, Juve seemed to find the extra element to obtain the equalizer. Raffaelle Paladino also had a very good game in an unfamiliar role.
And to respond to Gooner4ever, I’m sorry but you must have watched the wrong game.
There are boring games, and then there are intensity-laden games which, despite not giving too much in terms of scoring chances, still provide plenty of entertainment to the spectactor. Juve-Inter was one of the latter. Both teams played this match with a full drive for victory, neither of them decided at any point during the 90 minutes that a draw would be enough. The battle in midfield was fierce, and after Inter got in the lead they were still looking to clinch the match with dangerous counter-attacks.
If you really want to be talking about boring, have a look at the Juve-Milan 2003 Champions League final, or the Italy-France Euro 2008 qualifer last month. Those were boring matches, Juve-Inter certainly was not.
Steve, Palladino’s utilization as a left winger is becoming more and more common these days. Ranieri has been using him in that position for quite a while now, and the lad’s in constant progression. He just needs to work on his passing/crossing more, because despite the excellent delivery for Iaquinta on the equalizing goal, most of Palladino’s crosses were off the mark Sunday.
Gooner, you can’t have been watching this match. It was anything but boring. It was better than many of the Premiership games, definitely!
nice cross from palladino, good head pass from iaquinta and beautiful finishing from camoranesi isn’t…?!