Date : 10/01/2016
Venue : Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
Competition : Serie A 2015/2016, Matchday 19
The starting line-ups :
For the first time this season, Roberto Mancini, chose to field the exact same side as in the previous match, with the difference though, now, that D’Ambrosio played on the left side of the field (probably because he was more suitable to defend against Domenico Berardi) and Nagatomo on the right. Between the Murillo and Miranda were once again present, protecting the in-form Samir Handanovic, under the posts. Gary Medel was the defensive midfielder with Kondogbia and Brozovic as CMs. Perisic, played on the right wing interchanging positions with Ljajic and both flanking the lone striker Icardi.
Ljajic had, as almost always, a more free role on the pitch than his teammates, either starting from the left and cutting inside to shoot with his right or move towards the direction of the ball in order to create numerical superiorities on the pitch.
In fact, in one of those situations, one of the biggest chances in the game was created as the Serbian moved towards the centre of the penalty area, creating a 3v2 against the Sassuolo defenders and getting a header that he eventually lost.
Di Francesco’s Sassuolo, on the other side, started with Consigli as the GK, behind a defense that included Vrsaljko, Cannavaro, Acerbi and Peluso. Magnanelli was the DM with Duncan and Missiroli some metres in front of him. Domenico Berardi and Sansone played on the wings, with Falcinelli between them as the striker.
Sassuolo’s and Inter’s defense
Sassuolo started the game ready to take advantage of one Inter’s weak points this season, their lack of ability to hold on to the ball when pressed high.
As you can see from the above screenshots, they pressed high up the pitch forcing Inter to long balls. When the ball was on their half though, the neroverdi moved into a 4-1-4-1 with the 3 midfielders staying close together in the centre of the field and the two wingers moving in relation to the Internazionale FBs, creating sometimes a 5 or 6 man defense ( see below).
Inter too, pressed high up the pitch, but lacking either intensity of making mistakes like the one on the screenshot below.
As it can be seen both Brozovic and Kondogbia have gone on to press Sassuolo’s DM, leaving Missiroli alone in space ready to receive the ball ( right and down at the picture).
When not pressing, Inter moved in unison towards the direction of the ball, creating a difficult to penetrate through shape.
What was particularly interesting in this match, though, was that Inter’s defenders were man-marking Sassuolo’s wingers and forward, when on their defensive thιrd or in transition.
This type of marking, of course, gave the opportunity to the away team to make fake movements in order to open up spaces between the defenders and especially between the CBs and the FBs, for Missiroli and Duncan to run into.
You can see in both situations above, how runs from the wingers dragged defenders with them and created space for the CMs to run into and take advantage of.
Second Half and Mancini’s tactical changes
The second half started with Roberto Mancini changing his 4-3-3 into a 4-2-3-1 with Kondogbia and Medel on the double pivot and Brozovic at a more attacking role, playing behind Icardi.
It was a tactical change that made a lot of sense.
Inter had now a player ( or two, depending on Ljajic’s movement) between the opponent’s defensive and midfield lines to take advantage especially of the fact that, many times, big spaces were created due to the unwillingness of the defensive line to follow the movement of the midfielder’s during pressing.
The double pivot also meant that now there were two players close to defense ready to close the gaps created by, the almost man-marking of the Inter defense, when their opponents were dragging them out of line.
When on their own half, this 4-2-3-1 was transformed into 4-4-1-1, with Brozovic marking Magnanelli in order not to let him recycle possession for Sassuolo (something that happened many times in the first half).
Sassuolo’s defensive mentality also changed with the start of the second half.
They were now content to sit back and wait for Inter to attack, pressing them high up the pitch only when the ball was moving backwards towards Nerazzurri’s defenders or GK.
Not seeing any amazing result, especially on the attacking end, Mancini decided to change his team’s shape again, on the 64th minute, when Palacio came in , replacing Perisic.
Inter now played with a 4-3-1-2, with the FB on the side of the ball playing high up the pitch and the CM of the opposite side trying to stretch the opposition by providing width.
Palacio was moving towards the direction of the ball and next to Ljajic, who was now the number ten, in order to receive the ball and help with the circulation on the final third.
It was around that time that the game started be more uncontrollable and with a bit of anarchy, as Sassuolo’s defense stayed deeper and deeper creating a huge space in the middle of the pitch. Both teams tried to attack their opponent’s on transition but to no avail.
Mancini’s final attempt to win
Five minutes before the end, Jovetic was brought in, in order to replace Kondogbia, and Inter changed shape again. On offense Icardi, Palacio and Jovetic stayed centrally with the experienced Argentinian and the Montenegrin moving towards the ball in order to receive it and combine, primarily with Ljajic who was playing on his starting position, the left wing, and with each other.
On defense, Palacio became the right winger creating something like a 4-4-2 (see image below).
Conclusion
With Miranda giving away a penalty in the final minute of the game and Berardi scoring, Inter lost their second consecutive game inside Giuseppe Meazza. It was the first game that the Nerazzurri created so many dangerous opportunity’s, but this time they could not put ball at the back of the net, due to either their finishing inability or Consigli’s incredible performance.
Sassuolo on the other hand proved once again that they are not an easy opponent for any team in the league and Di Francesco showed that sooner or later he is going to coach one of the biggest teams in Italy.