The carousel starts again. With the echo of the 32nd day still in your ears, it's already time to dive into the 33rd. We begin with Udinese-Inter (at 20.45), an advance of a round that could create several jolts in the standings, at all levels. Friuli is playing for the Europa League, at least as far as the Nerazzurri are concerned. The objective, almost unthinkable until a couple of weeks ago, has become realistic again after the success against Roma, combined with some slip-ups by the opponents, above all Sampdoria and Fiorentina.
However, it is clear that Inter can no longer stop, otherwise the comeback would become impossible, this time permanently. The next matches with Udinese and Chievo would seem within reach, but given the Nerazzurri's precedents, there's no need to let your guard down. “Let's go easy on the enthusiasm – explained Mancini. – The team has made progress, yes, but it won't be easy in Udine. They are growing, they beat Milan. There will be struggle and suffering”.
The coach from Jesi doesn't trust the black and whites, despite the presence of the former Stramaccioni and Stankovic, the latter, moreover, a great friend and companion in a thousand battles. “We want mathematical salvation – “growled” Strama. – We need to give continuity to what was done on Saturday, even if we will have to pay close attention to Inter and their forward duo Palacio-Icardi”. Both teams, therefore, are hungry for victory even if, standings in hand, the nerazzurri should have much more stimuli.
“The Europa League doesn't just depend on us – continued Mancini. – Many victories and excellent performances will be needed, this week will be very important to understand. In any case, my judgment on the season remains negative: I wanted to finish in the top three...". In short, Mancio continues to work on his mentality, the real Achilles heel of this season: general rehearsals for the next one, when the sights will definitely turn upwards.
Today, however, we need to think about the trip to Udine, which Inter will face with a rather patched-up defence. The simultaneous disqualifications of Ranocchia and Juan Jesus, in addition to the unavailability of Andreolli, make the choices almost obligatory: Santon, Felipe, Vidic and Nagatomo will play in front of Handanovic, the latter favorite over D'Ambrosio. In the middle of the field instead, after the absences of the last few weeks, the trio Guarin-Medel-Brozovic is back, and should start from the beginning with the consequent return to the bench of the young Gnoukouri.
The Palacio-Icardi duo will be confirmed in attack, with Hernanes favorite over Shaqiri and Kovacic for the attacking midfielder's shirt. Stramaccioni will make some changes compared to the match against Milan (Widmer and Geijo have some ailments) but the hard core of his 4-3-1-2 (Guilherme behind Thereau and Di Natale) will resist. To try to make another scalp in Milan football.
