Italian journalist Mario Sconcerti believes that Inter did not pass their first major test of the season, having been unable to beat Atalanta in their first match against a major Serie A rival.
Writing in his column in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera, Sconcerti suggested that there are still too many errors and vulnerabilities to the Nerazzurri based on their performance against La Dea yesterday evening.
Inter came into their clash with Atalanta in good form, having won four of their opening five Serie A matches, producing emphatic wins against Genoa and Bologna and a strong comeback against Fiorentina along the way.
However, Gian Piero Gasperini’s men were always likely to pose the sternest test of where the team is at that they have seen in Serie A, and so it proved, as they were made to work from first minute to last.
Inter played some brilliant football and had dominant spells, and were well worth their two goals, but they also allowed Atalanta to dictate the game at times and showed that they have mistakes in them, and the draw was just about deserved.
“Inter and Atalanta delighted and erred in equal measure,” Sconcerti writes, “in form one moment and bewildering the next, giving as many sublime technical gestures as opportunities to the opponent. The 2-2 is the result of a match in which the two Nerazzurri from Lombardy were like two two tennis players, cancelling each other out with aces and double faults.”
He goes on, “Gasperini undermined Atalanta by taking out his entire attack half an hour from the end, Zapata, Malinovskyi, Pessina. Inzaghi, in great difficulty, guessed the right way way to turn the game around with his substitutions.”
“But this does not mean superiority,” Sconcerti writes, “only skill of the coach in a moment. I saw a player, Barella, of immense ability, plus the two strikers, Dzeko and Lautaro, a clinic in attacking football and in accuracy. Inter lacked numbers in the game, Atalanta always had an extra man – Toloi – who allowed them to free up anyone on the edge of the Inter area.”
He concludes, “Gasperini deserved to lose for the changes he made in his best moment. Inter could to have one of their many more experienced players take the penalty, for example Dzeko. Beautiful games are always full of mistakes.”