Italian journalist Matteo Marani feels that the Inter’s main fault compared to last season is that they haven’t gotten many decisive wins against direct rivals for the Serie A title.
Writing in his column in today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, the journalist compared the Nerazzurri’s performance against their main rivals to those of last season.
Inter still have their fate in their own hands after taking a point from their two massive head-to-head clashes with AC Milan and Napoli, but both their lead in the table and their confidence have taken a dent.
Last season, it had been vital wins against teams like Juventus, AC Milan, and Atalanta which were the turning points which pointed towards what was in the end a fairly emphatic Scudetto triumph.
This time around, the Nerazzurri have still been broadly the most convincing side in Serie A over the course of the season, but by dropping points against their closest rivals the race at the top remains very tight indeed.
“A year ago, around just this time, Conte’s Inter broke away from their rivals,” Marani writes. “The impression is that compared to those days, they are missing Lukaku and a bit of ferocity, of the kind that they lacked in the derby.”
He goes on that “Inter have put their two most difficult challenges behind them, while the schedule now has the direct confrontation between Milan and Napoli in store on March 6.”