The Black and Blue aftermath: Bologna v Inter

Welcome to your ‘one stop shop’ for everything you need to know on the day following any Inter game. Grab a coffee, sit back and enjoy the very best (and worst) of Bologna 1 Inter 1.

Tale of the tape….. Courtesy of the statistics site  Whoscored.com – here are the numbers that mattered from Sunday nights game.

The Good…….

Inter had a pass success rating of 84%, were in possession of the football for 64% of the game and had 22 shots on the Bologna goal.

Jonathan completed 86% of his passes, had ten crosses, four of those were accurate and he played a total of three key passes to boot. He also managed to block a team leading two shots.

Ricky Alvarez completed seven dribbles, 89% of his passes and three of those were key passes.

Hugo Campagnaro made three interceptions, four tackles and seven effective clearances.

Jonathan’s goal is the 18th scored by Inter in the second half of games in Serie A this season. That currently leads the league.

The Nerazzurri managed to reverse a trend that had seen them lose the last six games in which they had trailed at half time.

Fredy Guarin lead the team with six total shots.

The Bad……..

This was the first time Inter had fallen behind in the opening 15 minutes of a game this season.

Despite registering 22 attempts on goal, just six of the Nerazzurri’s shots were on target.

Inter had 15 corners to Bologna’s two but couldn’t make any of those set pieces count.

Inter lost the majority of aerial battles, winning just 47% of those duels.

Rodrigo Palacio touched the ball just 47 times, one of the lowest of the team. He only managed to get one of his four goal attempts on target.

The Ugly……..

Saphir Taider should have been given his marching orders following Bologna’s opening goal. After being cautioned early on he tugged the shirt of a breaking Bologna forward and was fortunate not to be given a second yellow card and the dismissal which would have followed.

Player ratings courtesy of Gazzetta dello Sport

What the gaffer had to say……..

“Many of the players aren’t ready to change roles or positions. We have worked on a system and if we change it we risk to lose our game, just as we did during a period of the game today. At the end of the game when we played 4-3-3 we got the proof that the team isn’t ready to change systems and positions during an ongoing game. It will come with time just like it did for me at Napoli. Rolando is one of the players who is doing very well, together with the young players and those who haven’t been in the starting eleven who are growing every game. If we want to be on top, we can’t throw two points away like we did today and in earlier games against Cagliari and Torino.”

Jonathan spoke after the game in the mixed zone “Bologna play very well, but their goal came from our mistake and then the ball didn’t want to enter for us. We have to forget about this false step and think about the next game straight away. What changed for me? I feel a lot more faith, the coached called me for the game and told me he trusts in me and my qualities. He even wanted me at Napoli and told me that I shouldn’t worry about doing mistakes, in this team all of us are important.”

Fredy Guarin gave his reaction “It is always important to hear it. From the coach, from the teammates and from the club. Then you can see the answer from the player on the pitch. Today I just had to score because the team did well. I am calm, I’ll just keep working and be available for the team. The goal will come for me, the team is playing well and it is good like that.”

Samir Handanovic was asked by Inter Channel to give his thoughts on Inter’s poor displays coming out of the international breaks “No, I really do not know why, I can not explain it, but I do not think you can compare them. The match against Torino was different, we’ll see in March when the next international break is”

Other notable tidbits….

President Erick Thohir was watching on from Indonesia, he spoke to Sky “It was a good game, we didn’t have any luck and missed some clamorous occasions and even the bar stopped us. We’ll have to look forward, until the next time.”

The injury suffered by Yuto Nagatomo is not believed to be serious. Tests on Monday will determine how long he is out for.

Both teams observed a minutes silence then applause as a show of support to those in Sardinia who have suffered due to storms.

Javier Zanetti was an unused substitute, he may not yet be ready for 90 minutes as it was Alvaro Pereira who came on when Nagatomo was unable to continue in the first half.

Don’t forget to complete your post match experience by casting your Man of the Match vote. The result will be announced exclusively on the latest episode of StudioInter: The only 100% Inter podcast in English!