This Wednesday 27 January 2016 Inter travel to Turin to face Derby D’Italia rivals Juventus at the Juventus Stadium in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg (kick off 20:45CET).
Inter come into this game on the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw against Carpi at the San Siro last Sunday. It was a game like a lot of Inter matches recently with the Nerazzurri dominating the whole game and leading 1-0, but failing to get that killer second goal and getting punished at the end.
Unlike the Inter of the first half of the season who would have seen out the game at 1-0, as has happened nine times this season, Sunday’s Nerazzurri team were caught out by a counter-attack in the 92nd minute of the game and worryingly now for Roberto Mancini, three of the last four goals conceded by Inter have come in the last five minutes of matches including two in injury time.
Inter qualified for the Coppa Italia semi-finals by beating Cagliari 3-0 at the San Siro in the round of sixteen before beating Serie A leaders Napoli 0-2 at the Stadio San Paolo last week in the quarter-finals thanks to Stevan Jovetic and Adem Ljajic goals.
Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus come into this game as the form team in Italy with eleven wins in a row in Serie A including last time out against Roma(1-0) thanks to their star player Paulo Dybala.
The form the Bianconeri are in is far away from their form at the start of the season which seen them with just 12 points achieved in Serie A after ten games but an injury time win against derby rivals Torino on match day 11 seems to have served as a catalyst for an amazing run which has seen them climb to second place in Serie A.
Juventus qualified for the Coppa Italia semi-finals by beating local rivals Torino(4-0) in the round of sixteen before beating Lazio(0-1) at the Stadio Olimpico in the quarter-finals last week thanks to a Stephan Lichtsteiner goal.
Here is the Inter team news and probable line-up as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport at the time of writing:
Samir Handanovic is expected to stay in goal with Davide Santon set for a return at right back and Danilo D’Ambrosio at left back in a proposed 4-3-3 formation with a central defensive partnership of Joao Miranda and Juan Jesus. Jeison Murillo is expected to be rested ahead of the weekend’s upcoming Milan Derby.
In a midfield three, Gary Medel is expected to start alongside Felipe Melo and one of Geoffrey Kondogbia or Marcelo Brozovic.
Up top captain Mauro Icardi is expected to be replaced in the central striking role by Stevan Jovetic with Adem Ljajic on the left and one of Ivan Perisic or Rodrigo Palacio on the right with the Argentine favoured after his man of the match performance against Carpi last time out.
Probable Inter line-up (subject to change): (4-3-3) Handanovic; Santon, Miranda, Juan Jesus, D’Ambrosio; Melo, Medel, Brozovic; Palacio, Jovetic, Ljajic
Bench: Carrizo, Berni, Montoya, Nagatomo, Murillo, Ranocchia, Telles, Kondogbia, Gnoukouri, Perisic, Biabiany, Icardi, Manaj
Some Stats:
Inter have faced Juventus in Turin on 14 occasions in the Coppa Italia with the Bianconeri leading the stats with 8 wins to Inter’s 4 wins with 2 matches drawn.
In the overall Coppa Italia records (home & away), Juventus continue to lead the stats with 12 wins to Inter’s 10 wins with 7 of the 29 matches drawn.
Inter last faced Juventus in the Coppa Italia on 28 January 2010 at the quarter-final stage when the Nerazzurri won 2-1 thanks to goals from Lucio and Mario Balotelli.
Juventus last beat Inter in the Coppa Italia on 11 February 1992 thanks to a goal from Paolo Di Canio, since then Inter are unbeaten against the Bianconeri in 8 matches in the Coppa Italia.
Juventus are the most successful team in the Coppa Italia having won the competition on 10 occasions while Inter are the third most successful with 7 wins.
Player to Watch: Samir Handanovic – Inter’s player of the season so far, the Nerazzurri will need the Slovenian to keep up his form against an on-fire Juventus.
My Prediction: Juventus 1-1 Inter
Scorers: Pogba(Juventus), Ljajic(Inter)
Officials: Referee: Paolo Tagliavento Assistants: Manganelli, Meli
Fourth Official: Celi
Author’s Note: This will be a tight game against an in-form Juventus and I think both sides will likely cancel each other out but as we seen against Napoli in the quarter-finals, Inter are capable of springing a surprise when not considered as favourites.
Forza Inter!