Inter continued their return to form this week with two absolute polar opposite wins.
A pazza Inter special saw them triumph 4-3 over Fiorentina on Saturday night, before a thumping 4-0 win over Viktoria Plzen guaranteed them progression to the knockout phase of the Champions League.
Here’s what we learned from a part pazza Inter this week.
1) Henrikh Mkhitaryan Coming Good
When Inter snuck Henrikh Mkhitaryan away from Roma this summer, there was a feeling that it would become a smart piece of business.
With Inter needing to replace the experience of Arturo Vidal and Matias Vecino, it was prudent for them to bring in a player on a free who had experience of Serie A and European football like Mkhitaryan has.
The diminutive Armenian has turned up big this week for Inter with goals in back to back games and providing a creative force in the midfield three.
Whilst he isn’t a long term signing due to his age, he has proven that he deserves a place in this squad and can contribute when called upon.
2) Alessandro Bastoni Back In Form
After a summer filled with distractions over his future, Alessandro Bastoni has found it difficult to produce his best form so far this season.
A clunky performance in the poor defeat away at Udinese saw him hooked after just half an hour and since then he has completed 90 minutes just twice for Inter.
A player who Inter relied on and came up trumps the last two seasons has been reduced to a more sporadic role.
However, a really strong performance in the win over Plzen showed his class in both an attacking sense and defensively when called upon, which is hugely encouraging heading into the run up to the World Cup.
3) Federico Dimarco Doing His Best To Keep Robin Gosens On Bench
Lots of the past week has been spent debating whether Inter should be starting Federico DiMarco or Robin Gosens.
The former has been getting the nod of late and showed both sides of his armoury against Plzen whilst putting in a clumsy performance at the weekend.
The signing of Robin Gosens still, almost a year on, seems a complete mystery as he hasn’t even been given a proper chance to showcase his talents and prove himself worthy of a role in Inter’s starting lineup.
With numerous fans calling for the integration of Gosens after the Fiorentina game, DiMarco showed his qualities with a brilliant assist for Edin Dzeko’s first goal.
The shirt belongs to the Milanese man but will Gosens ever get his chance?
4) Edin Dzeko’s Indian Summer About To Begin?
Edin Dzeko started last season on fire, leading to Beppe Marotta even claiming that he’d replaced Romelu Lukaku.
Post Christmas, the Bosnian fizzled out quite dramatically and due to his advancing years and lack of pace, he looked almost a little Sunday League.
With the re-signing of Romelu Lukaku in the summer, it looked as if Inter may even have looked to move him on but he has stayed and on recent form, that looks to have been a good thing.
A brilliant performance to help Inter win a tough game away at Sassuolo started a good recent run from the Bosnian, who capped off his recent spell with a double over Plzen.
Is there life in the old dog yet?
5) Simone Inzaghi Has The European Touch
Where Antonio Conte failed, Simone Inzaghi has prevailed.
Inter have now qualified for back to back knockout phases in the Champions League under the former Lazio coach.
A tremendous achievement from Inzaghi and his side which is exaggerated even more so given that he was unable to call on Marcelo Brozovic or Romelu Lukaku for most of the campaign whilst being drawn against the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
By re-establishing Inter in Europe after a lean period, the club becomes a more attractive option to both investors and potential players.
Job well done Simone.
