Yesterday evening’s Serie A clash between Juventus and Inter Milan has been on the end of some scathing reviews.
Today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, brand yesterday’s 1-1 draw as “one of the worst Derbies d’Italia ever” due to its technical level and pace of play.
There were at least two moments of real excitement at the Allianz Stadium yesterday.
Dusan Vlahovic opened the scoring for Juventus with an excellent finish after some interplay with his strike partner Federico Chiesa.
And Lautaro Martinez responded for Inter minutes later. The Nerazzurri captain got on the end of a cross from Marcus Thuram.
But in truth those were the only two instances where either team really came undone.
Otherwise, it was a cagey affair in which both sets of players looked absolutely desperate not to make a mistake.
One Of The Worst Juventus Vs Inter Matches Ever?
Derby d’Italia clashes are not necessarily matches that provide fireworks on the pitch by reputation.
The scoreline is usually fairly tight when Inter and Juventus clash, regardless of the result.
And there are always plenty of strong challenges and duels all over the pitch. Perhaps even at the expense of free-flowing football.
But for the Gazzetta, even by that standard, yesterday’s match was poor.
For one thing, the newspaper identify the pace of play as a problem.
It is one thing, after all, for a match to be scrappy if it’s played at a frenetic pace.
But yesterday there was little of that. Maybe at the beginning of the match the two teams tried to put a decisive seal on proceedings early on.
But the closer and closer the final whistle came to arriving, the most both teams looked determined to wind the match down without risking dropping the point they had.
And in terms of the technical level, the Gazzetta argue that even at that walking pace, neither set of player really showed that they are capable of.
In midfield, there was a lot more running and tackling than decisive passes or dribbles.
Both strike partnerships had one decisive combination that resulted in a goal. And otherwise, both were fairly quiet.
