Legendary former Bianconeri defender Giorgio Chiellini has put the brakes on comparisons between the current Inter Milan back three and the legendary “BBC” backline that Juventus won several Serie A titles with.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia, via FCInterNews, Chiellini gave his thoughts on the current Nerazzurri back three.
Going into this season, Inter’s first-choice back three contained just one Italian player. The trio of Alessandro Bastoni, Milan Skriniar, and Stefan de Vrij that had won the Scudetto was more or less holding together.
However, over the course of the season, that has changed. First, de Vrij was displaced by Francesco Acerbi at the heart of the trio.
The 35-year-old arrived from Lazio on loan last summer. As he showed against AC Milan, Acerbi is more than capable of marshalling this Inter defense at the highest level.
Then, Skriniar picked up an injury which ruled him out of a good chunk of the second half of the season. Combined with the fact that the Slovakian is set to leave on a free transfer, he has become something of a forgotten man.
The Nerazzurri haven’t missed a beat, however. Matteo Darmian has been repurposed from wingback, and has done an excellent job of not just filling in but replacing the former Sampdoria defender on the right of Inter’s back three.
Chiellini Downplays Comparison Of Inter Milan Backline To Juventus Trio
The fact that all three current first-choice members of Inter’s back three are Italian has led some to make comparisons.
Namely, there have been one or two hints that they resemble an iconic former Juventus backline.
During last decade, the likes of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, and Chiellini himself were at the heart of the Bianconeri’s success.
The trio combined ruggedness, technical ability, positional and tactical intelligence, and the versatility to comprise a three-man defensive unit.
In this season, there could be one or two comparisons to Darmian, Acerbi, and Bastoni.
However, ex-Juventus defender Chiellini isn’t so sure.
“Darmian, Acerbi, and Bastoni are a completely different story,” he said.
“I’ll start with the most unexpected one,” he said, “Matteo. Because we’ve all always talked about him as a versatile player, but no one would ever have expected him to play at such a high level on the side of a back three.”
“He’s done so in the absence of Skriniar, who even if he were to recover, I think Matteo would still play.”
“De Vrij has been available to adapt. but was never taken into consideration in this sense because Matteo has done a great job, proving himself in the ties wiagainst th Milan and Benfica.”
“I’m very happy for him, as he’s a great guy who’s always gotten less than he’s deserved,” he added.
“Bastoni is the present and the future of the national team,” Chiellini argued. “He’s young but he has a great future ahead of him.”
“I hope he continues to grow the way he has been, he has incredible technical ability, he’s improving in all other aspects,” he continued.
“I had already said that he would be the national team starter of the future for many years and I’m happy to see it.”
Then Chiellini noted that “Acerbi has always done very well. He’s grown a lot, he has physique, character, focus.”
“And he’s having an extraordinary season.”
