Noted Italian football journalist Luigi Garlando has shared his belief that when Inter do not play at their usual tempo, they are a side who become predictable to play against off the back of the Nerazzurri’s goalless draw against Shakhtar Donetsk yesterday evening.
Antonio Conte’s side travelled to the Ukrainian capital to take on the reigning Ukrainian Premier League champions as big favourites and dominated the match as expected but despite all of the chances they had, the Nerazzurri side somehow failed to not score and come away with all three points.
“Inter’s draw in Kyiv is full of regrets. Inter can blame bad luck (they hit the crossbar twice), but also a lot of it has to do with themselves, starting with the incredible miss by Lautaro,” Garlando explained in his latest column which appeared in today’s print edition of Italian daily newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Inter played an excellent first half, they were in absolute control and applied great pressure in the opponent’s half. They created the best opportunities by stealing the ball from the Ukrainians, exactly as they did in the Europa League semi final in August. Three of the five goals that night came from them taking the ball off them by pressing.”
He went on to add: “For how Inter is built, for how it was built on the spirit of a warrior like Antonio Conte, we are convinced that Inter is at its best when it has this shape but when they lower the tempo, like in yesterday’s second half, they become predictable and harmless.”
After two Champions League group stage matches, Inter are currently sitting in third place in group B with two points to their name, two points off of surprising group leaders Shakhtar Donetsk and a point ahead of bottom club Real Madrid.