Inter Milan started off with the know familiar 4-2-3-1 which is very obviously Luciano Spalletti’s favoured formation. There was only one change which was Davide Santon for Yuto Nagatomo, with Dalbert once again overlooked by Spalletti.

The change just highlights Spalletti’s preference for inverted wing backs on the left instead of traditional overlapping full back. They give a very good balance to the team due to Ivan Perisic’s tendency to keep wide and stick to the byline. The full back whether it is Santon or Nagatomo cut inside and keep the inside space on the left flank occupied and prevent the opposition to try and exploit that space. This once again shows Spalletti’s very sound process of thought and tactical knowledge. Roberto Gagliardini and Matias Vecino were once again operating as a double pivot with Vecino as the deeper lying playmaker and Gagliardini the more energetic box to box midfielder. The front four were unchanged after showing how effective they were in working together. Borja Valero offered the more creative flair in the middle of the pitch with the two wingers not entirely flourishing in the attacking sense but they were pivotal tactically. Mauro Icardi once again performed wonderfully and showed his poachers instinct and brilliant movement.

Atalanta went with a very unusual 3-4-1-2 shape which was very fluid, this frustrated and confused Inter at the start but they eventually got to grips with it. The defenders were very simple and were not tasked with a lot of advanced role, they initially tried to play a high defensive line to aid with the press but they were eventually pushed back. The double pivot in midfield were very defensive and helped the front 3 to express themselves. Very fluid and very innovative from Gian Piero Gasperini once again.

First Half:

The first half was very interesting as Atalanta started off with a very aggressive strategy trying to out press Inter and force them into mistakes. The forward line led the press and the whole team pushed up trying to compress Inter in the centre of the pitch. This was initially very successful and it forced Inter into a lot of mistakes, but once they got into the flow at around the 25th minute mark Atalanta were pushed back and Inter just started to outplay them.

They then moved into a very structured solid shape leaving very little half spaces between the lines and Inter struggled to break them down. They had a very long period of sterile possession which was to no avail in the end as the first half finished goalless.

Atalanta’s shape when in the attacking phase fascinated me greatly. They were playing without a recognized striker and this allowed for a lot of fluidity and movement between the front lines. Alejandro ‘Papu’ Gomez and Josip Ilicic were starting wide as inside forwards and when Atalanta got the ball they dropped deep and sat narrower, this caused an overload in the centre of the pitch were the Atalanta players greatly outnumbered the Inter players. Jasmin Kurtic was playing in between the two as an aggressive shadow striker and he often made runs past Gomez and Ilicic.

You can see in the picture the triangle shape the Atalanta front three formed and how narrow they were playing. This caused great problems for Inter players as they struggled to pick up the two false nine’s and they were confused in who to mark.

After the 25th minute mark though Inter got into their rhythm and started controlling the ball and pinging it around beautifully. The defenders pushed up and Atalanta struggled to touch the ball. At first Atalanta kept a very solid and structured shape but eventually they were drawn out by Inter’s sterile possession approach.

This resulted in more space for Valero as the double pivot in the Atalanta midfield were pressing, this meant that the half space between the defence and the midfield was left unoccupied. In the picture above you can see how free Valero was and this resulted in a very good chance for Icardi after some magic from the Spaniard.

Second half:

In the second half Inter continued on from there progressive approach near the end of the first half but after the first goal was scored they moved to a very compact 4-5-1 formation which is regularly used to keep leads intact. Valero dropped in with the two in midfield minimising the space between them and the two wingers dropped very deep, this stopped the full backs from overlapping and served to keep the very structured shape.

This negative approach invited pressure from Atalanta who offered a different threat after bringing on Andrea Petagna who is a natural centre forward for Ilicic. They could be more direct and Petagna offered the Inter defenders something to think about and proved to be a real threat. The wingers once again showed their massive tactical importance and versatility as they dropped very deep to try and stop the Atalanta onslaught and ensure overloads on the wings. They were very wide operating almost as attacking wing backs with the two full backs cutting inside. They worked endlessly and helped very much with the defensive phase of the game which is something most winger hate to do. Credit to them for putting the teams interests above their own.

The first goal was the first defensive mistake by Atalanta in the whole game but that just shows the quality of the top flight. The first and the second were massively due to Icardi’s brilliant movement which just illustrated his brilliance as an out and out goalscorer and a brilliant poacher. Hopefully he is at the club for a long time to come.

This game was in my opinion the most fascinating Inter game this season. The tactical battle between two of the best minds in Italy was very interesting to watch and the switching of tactical approaches numerous times during the game was something that owed me from a tactical point of view. To see both teams transitioning so smoothly between different playstyles was beautiful to watch. Spalletti triumphing over Gasperini who is one of the best tactical managers in Italy if not the world just shows how good he is and from the evidence of this game, we could finally mount a title challenge