As the 2009-10 season headed towards the finish line, AS Roma and Inter were in the middle of a very tight Scudetto race. After thirty-three days, the Romans led by Claudio Ranieri, were in first place after an outstanding run of form during which they were undefeated for twenty-two rounds.
Inter had just dropped to second place after a 2-2 draw in round thirty-two against Fiorentina, after leading the Scudetto race for twenty-six straight rounds. With the Bianconeri coming to play Derby D’Italia at San Siro and AS Roma preparing to participate in the Rome derby in round thirty-four, both teams were preparing to play high stake games with significant implications for the Scudetto race.
For the Old Lady, it had been a long hard road back to significance after the Calciopoli scandal. Going into the away match to take on the reigning champions, the Bianconeri were in seventh spot in the league table, desperately trying to hang on to the final Europa League qualification spot with Parma and Genoa at their heals, competing for the same.
After a positive start to the season under manager Ciro Ferrara, the team had really struggled to find good form, managing only one win between December and January leading to change in management midway through the season with former Inter manager Alberto Zaccheroni taking over.
Mourinho opted for his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation with Diego Milito leading the attack with Wesley Sneijder as the trequartista and Samuel Eto’o and Goran Pandev on either side of the Dutchman. Thiago Motta and Esteban Cambiasso formed the double pivot in the midfield and Julio Cesar was in goal with a defensive line of Captain Javier Zanetti, Walter Samuel, Lucio, Maicon ahead of him.
Down the other end, Zaccheroni opted for a 4-3-1-2 formation with the attacking duo of Captain Alessandro Del Piero, Vincenzo Iaquinta and Brazilian playmaker Diego as trequartista. A midfield trio of Felipe Melo, Mohammed Sissoko, Claudio Marchisio was fielded ahead of a defensive line of Fabio Grosso, Giorgio Chiellini, Fabio Cannavaro and Jonathan Zebina. As always Gianluigi Buffon in goal.
The visitors started out strong as both strikers Iaquinta and Del Piero took shots on target, testing Julio Cesar from range. Inter retained most of the possession however were unable to create any chances with both Chiellini and Cannavaro in tremendous form, not giving anything away. First chance of the match for Inter came at fifteen-minute mark as a result of a trademark powerful run forward by Maicon, cutting inside to create space for Thiago Motta who took a long-range powerful shot on goal at Buffon, forcing an acrobatic save.
The match remained in balance as both teams played a physical game. With half-time approaching, the game took a turn drastically for the worse for Juventus as Mohammed Sissoko picked up two yellow cards within a sixteen-minute gap, reducing the Bianconeri to 10-men with fifty-eight minutes remaining in the match. To fill the gap in the midfield, Zaccheroni took off Del Peiro and brought on Christian Poulsen.
As second half resumed, Mourinho made an attacking substitution, taking off Thiago Motta and bringing on Dejan Stankovic. Eight-minutes into the second half, Deki made an immediate impact. Aggressively pressing the Juventus midfield, he created a turnover and immediately passed the ball to Eto’o on left-wing. Eto’o beat Cannavaro, forcing Chiellini to come over to cover. With Milito wide open on the right, Eto’o instead took a shot himself.
However Chiellini had closed in quickly and shot went into the Curva Sud and the score remained goalless. Yet another agonizing opportunity had gone to waste for the Nerazzurri and frustration was beginning to mount. Mourinho looked to the bench yet again, replacing Pandev for Balotelli whose size was causing problems immediately for the Juve defense. With Balotelli shifting out wide, there was plenty of space towards the middle for Maicon and Milito. This constant movement was causing a lot of issues for the defense, however Milito’s frustrating night continued as his shot barely missed the target yet again.
It was not just Milito’s shortcomings that prevented Inter from taking the lead. Gigi Buffon in goal was having an unbelievable night, making one acrobatic save after another, coming up big when his team needed it the most.
In the end, Inter’s constant offensive pressure finally paid off. Following a Sneijder corner kick around seventy-five-minute mark, Cannavaro’s clearance went straight to Maicon at the edge of the penalty box. After juggling the ball between his right and left knees, Maicon struck a powerful shot on the volley from outside the box leaving no chance for Buffon to save it. A moment of individual brilliance by Maicon had given Nerazzurri the lead. To this day, that highlight is etched into the memory of Nerazzurri faithful around the world. A World-class player with a world-class performance topped off by a spectacular goal.
As the game was coming to close, Juventus won a free-kick at the edge of the box, within striking range for the specialist Diego. His powerful curled shot was comfortably saved by Julio Cesar who started a quick counter-attack caughting Juventus defense out of position. Balotelli waited and played a low cross perfectly for Eto’o who put it away for Inter’s second goal of the match, securing a hard fought 2-0 win at San Siro.
