Milan faces its history against the valuable advantage of Inter
The ‘rossoneri’, with 7 Champions League titles, must come back from 0-2 in the first leg to return to a final that the interistas have also been waiting for since 2010
MADRID, 15 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Inter Milan and AC Milan face each other this Tuesday (9:00 p.m.) in the second leg of the 2022-2023 Champions League semifinals, a duel that will define the first finalist of the competition and to which the ‘nerazzurri’ arrive with a valuable They will try to defend their two-goal advantage to seal their ticket to Istanbul, against some ‘Rossoneri’ who will have to come back to return to a continental final 16 years later.
The sixth ‘Derby della Madonnina’ in European competition comes a week after the Interista team opened the first clash between the Milanese neighbors with a win (0-2). A brilliant start from Simone Inzaghi’s men, who put the duel on track and sentenced in the first fifteen minutes, added to a more fragile and timid version of Stefano Pioli’s men, without the vital Rafael Leao in attack.
First it was Edin Dzeko, with a great first shot with an impossible left foot for Mike Maignan, after beating Davide Calabria in a struggle. Just three minutes later, it was Mkhitaryan who took advantage of the hole in the center of Milan’s defense left behind by Lautaro Martínez’s opportune clearance. The Armenian received a pass from Federico Dimarco from the left and, after standing in front of the French goalkeeper, he scored the second with a centered but effective right hand.
This 0-2 loss at the Giuseppe Meazza seems to leave the ‘rossonero’ team very touched, forced to touch perfection this Tuesday to turn the semifinals around. The booty is more than appetizing, since they would return to a Champions League final after 16 years. It was in 2007 when they defeated Liverpool (2-1) at the Athens Olympics, with two goals from Italian Filippo Inzaghi.
However, the interistas see it closer to returning to the match for the most prestigious continental title and thus breaking a 13-year drought without lifting a trophy that they have won three times. Inzaghi’s men want to repeat the feat achieved by José Mourinho’s Inter, with Milito, Sneijder, Stankovic or Eto’o, beating Bayern Munich in the final in Madrid in 2010.
MILAN URGE A JOY AND INTER, TO MAINTAIN ITS POSITIVE INERTIA
Pioli’s men do not arrive at the game this Tuesday in the best way, since, after losing that first leg of the continental semifinals, they were defeated again (2-0) against the modest Spezia. Another match in the, perhaps also the result of the rotations, they did not convert any chance, a bad feeling considering that they need three goals to turn around the crossing with their neighbors.
The ‘rossoneri’, fifth in Serie A and fighting to get into the Champions League position, have only won two of the last ten direct confrontations with their main rival, while the interistas, who have seven consecutive wins and are third in the League , they took victory in the last three, also raising the Italian Super Cup.
Milan, who will appeal to their history in the competition with seven trophies, will be able to count on a key Leao injured in the first leg. The Portuguese, author of 13 goals and 11 assists this season, will give more life to an attack also made up of Giroud and Saelemaekers. There won’t be many more changes, Brahim Díaz being key, who will act as a hook, with the doubt for Pioli as to whether Krunic will be able to be part of the ‘rossonero’ midfield.
Meanwhile, Inzaghi’s men, who asked to play with “head and heart” to recover their status in the competition in a big way, will not be able to count on Skriniar in a defense in which Darmian, Acerbi and Bastoni will repeat as centre-backs. The coach will rely on the gala ‘eleven’ that allows him to face the duel with maximum guarantees: Barella as ‘orchestra conductor’, with Lautaro and the dangerous Dzeko (14 goals this season) as outstanding ‘soloists’.
DATASHEET.
–POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS:
INTER MILAN: Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Çalhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro and Dzeko
AC MILAN: Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Kjaer, Theo Hernandez; Tone, Krunic, Brahim Diaz; Saelemaekers, Leao and Giroud.
–REFEREE: Clément Turpin (FRA).
–ESTADIUM: Giuseppe Meazza.
–TIME: 9:00 p.m./Movistar Champions League.