Inter’s loss to Sassuolo last match day opened the door for Lazio to secure Champions League qualification with a win over lowly Crotone but them failing to take advantage meant we had one of the biggest and most highly anticipated matches in years for Italian football on Sunday night. A win would see Inter back in Europe’s elite competition for the first time in 7 years whilst Lazio just needed to avoid defeat to see them back in the competition for the first time since 2015 but it would be their first appearance in the group stages for 11 years so both clubs had a huge incentive to get over the line.
Formations:
The mastermind behind Inter’s season decided to stick to what has got them into this position which was always expected however one welcomed change was made to the line-up as Brazilian International, Miranda took his place replacing the long-serving Andrea Ranocchia in the backline. Gagliardini was also on the bench for the second game in a row if needed after returning from injury.
Simone Inzaghi – who I’m sure was far from happy with his side last week after they couldn’t get the win needed to secure a top 4 finish – made a couple of changes to his starting XI with Luiz Felipe, Marušić and key man Ciro Immobile coming into the team, replacing Wallace, Basta and Caicedo respectively. Similarly to Spalletti, the Italian stuck to what has gotten his team into the position they are in.
First Half:
The match got off to a lively start with Lazio being extremely aggressive in their press, forcing Inter to be very good on the ball otherwise they would lose it in a dangerous area of the pitch (their own half).
Škriniar who’s the ball carrier in this example does not have a single pass available going forward since the positioning of the Lazio players have led to them being able to cut off every option, thus forcing the defender to turn backwards. He did manage to find a neat pass inside to Brozović who was put under pressure straight away however some nice composure and movement led to the Nerazzurri breaking their lines of press and getting at their backline.
Inter dominated the ball from the kick-off however Lazio struck first with Marušić firing a wayward shot against Perišić causing the ball to go in a completely different direction leaving Handanović stuck and helpless to the situation as the ball trickled into the net. So, with the Biancocelesti now in the lead, their game plan was to not allow Inter to attack through the middle so they stayed compact, just like Sassuolo did last weekend. This even included their wingbacks at times.
Lazio’s RWB can be seen almost playing in a central position however him doing this means D’Ambrosio cannot find any of his midfielders so this is very smart play as the Serbian fullback is shadow covering the wide area, knowing that Danilo can only go in that direction if he wants to progress the play forward and that is exactly what he does and as I explained, Marušić was intelligent in this situation and also very prepared as he managed to intercept the pass, leading to a dangerous Lazio attack.
One thing both sides tried to do was high press by overloading the side the ball was on. However, both teams managed to play out of the presses really well for the most part leading to dangerous attacks and opportunities, most notably when Icardi was put through by a tackle via Cancelo high up the pitch.
This press is great if Inter win the ball since they’ll have many options within close proximity of the ball carrier whilst also being in the opposition’s half but on the other hand, if they don’t win the ball like in this sequence of play, Lazio have men over on the far side ready to receive the ball and attack the backline of the away side so it has pro’s and con’s yet both managers chose to deploy this tactic therefore feeling as if their teams could pull it off.
Second Half:
One major problem Spalletti noticed from the first half was the fact that Rafinha was very isolated and struggled to really get into the game due to Lazio’s narrowness and ability to cut off the passing lanes to him. Therefore, Luciano made a tactical change which saw Candreva have more of a free role in the middle instead of staying out wide. What this did was drag players away from Rafinha since his runs needed to be tracked.
As you can see, Candreva was operating the left-half space with Ivan having the ball out wide. The Italian then made a darting run forward dragging not one, but two players with him thus creating a lot more space in the middle for Rafinha to work and operate in. When the Brazilian receives the pass from Perišić, he has two options as shown by the arrows since the space is now vacant in front of him. A simple yet very effective change by the coach.
As time went by, Spalletti knew he had to make a few tweaks in order to get back into the game and one of the changes was to push the midfield further forward, forcing Lazio backwards so Inter do not gain a numerical advantage in a dangerous area of the pitch, the final third.
The concern with this is of course the fact that the men in dark blue and black were now very open to quick counter attacks but it was a risk that had to be taken. So, with the whole midfield pushed further forward, it led to Škriniar and Miranda stepping up into midfield positions to provide options if needed and to recycle the ball whilst still being in their half.
Both managers made changes which had direct impacts on the game, more so Inzaghi as he took off their top goal scorer, Immobile in order to switch to a more defensive 5-4-1 formation however Lazio’s captain, Senad Lulić was sent off just after Inter levelled the match via a Mauro Icardi penalty. This made the contest very much attack vs defence on paper with Lazio trying to desperately hold on for a draw whilst Inter needed a third goal to get the win.
But just two minutes after the sending off, Inter took the lead through a Vecino header from a corner which completely flipped the game on its head meaning Inter now had to defend whilst Lazio had to attack desperately.
With the one-man advantage, Spalletti managed to organise his team really well to take the sting out of the game, drawing fouls and throw-ins and since the home side had no real fire power up front and just not many real attacking options on the pitch, they couldn’t get a hold of the ball to even give themselves a chance to get the equaliser until right at the end but Inter held on for the victory, booking their place in the UEFA Champions League in the process!
Conclusion:
Well, just an amazing game to watch with many twists and turns, two very good managers who have been great this season but in the one match that truly mattered, I think many people will look back and question the tactical decisions of Inzaghi whilst Spalletti couldn’t have done much more with his side.
As a supporter, seeing that third goal go in was a magical and long-awaited moment filled with joy and happiness but those final 10 or so minutes were painful to watch. Thankfully, we got the final spot in the top 4 and we’re back where we belong, amongst Europe’s elite!
It has been a good season overall as we achieved our ultimate goal and now we can look forward to what happens in the summer in terms of arrivals and departures, and of course, we will have that beautiful Champions League anthem ringing out at the San Siro next season, I just can’t wait! See you then!
