Italian journalist Mario Sconcerti believes that Inter’s away clash with Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League group stage wasn’t quite as easy as they will have expected.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster TMW Radio, Sconcerti gave his analysis of the Nerazzurri’s win over the Czech champions on Tuesday, whilst he also suggested that Francesco Acerbi could be capable of taking Stefan de Vrij’s starting spot at the heart of the defensive trio if he works hard.
Inter managed to get a foothold in their group by taking three points away from Plzen, and they got the job done with an assured performance, but the Czechs hardly made it easy for them with a physical and organized game.
“Inter put in the performance they had to in the Champions League,” Sconcerti noted, “they played against a team that only defended.”
“They faced them well because they moved the ball more quickly,” he noted. “It was a good Inter display, not extraordinary. It was more difficult than they expected, because Plzen has always been difficult at home for the Italians.”
One of the most interesting aspects of the Nerazzurri’s win over Plzen was the debut of Acerbi at the back, who put in a solid shift to help steward the team to a clean sheet, and Sconcerti also spoke about this.
“He could [displace de Vrij from the starting eleven] but he has to work hard,” he argued. “He’s an excellent defender, de Vrij is losing some pace, and I think he’s a better player than Ranocchia, in whose place he arrived.”
“He comes from a season to forget, where he never settled in, but with a coach who values him, he’ll be very useful,” Sconcerti predicted of the Lazio-owned defender.
