And now on with the Champions. THE'Inzaghi's Inter, absolute master of the championship, dives back into the top European competition with the aim of showing its strength even beyond the border, just like last season, when it even came close to triumph. The final in Istanbul is still engraved in the minds and hearts of the Nerazzurri, so why not try again another time? This team, moreover, is much better performing than the previous one, and the great advantage in Serie A could also allow it to measure its strength and play its cards in the best possible way. In front, however, there will be a tough opponent like former Simeone's Atletico Madrid, in an eighth that promises to be balanced like few others. The hope is to continue the cup round as best we can, while waiting for Napoli-Barcelona tomorrow, in the midst of the chaos that is engulfing the Azzurri: on the bench, in fact, there will no longer be Walter Mazzarri, sacked by De Laurentiis, but the The current coach of Slovakia Francesco Calzona (formerly on Sarri and Spalletti's staff), who will hold the double role until June.
Inter – Atletico Madrid (21pm, Canale 5, Sky and Now)
The respective leagues say that Inter has something more than the Spaniards, at least in terms of continuity, but the qualification purse is almost on par. If we were to go too far, we could summarize it as 60-40, but a lot will depend on this evening's result: if the Nerazzurri are good at directing the challenge already at San Siro they will have a foot in the quarter-finals, vice versa, by postponing the judgment to the Wanda Metropolitano, the discussion would almost be upside down. The two clubs find each other in front for the second time in history (in official matches, of course) after the only precedent of 27 August 2010, when they competed for the European Super Cup in Monte Carlo: Atletico won with goals from Reyes and Aguero and Inter began to have some doubts about the Benitez project, which effectively foundered four months later. That was the last season without it Simeon on the bench, because the following year began a dynasty that still lasts today and which has brought two Spanish championships, two Europa Leagues, two European Super Cups, a Copa del Rey and a Spanish Super Cup, without forgetting the two Champions League finals (lost) with Real Madrid, one at San Siro. The Argentine coach's imprint has become so strong that he coined the term "Cholismo", understood as a defensive style of play, at times rough, damned effective.
However, today's Atletico has changed its skin, so much so that they have the fourth attack in La Liga (with only 3 goals less than first-place Real Madrid) and the sixth defense: the times of "dirty and bad" 1-0s are over, as demonstrated by the 5-0 just handed out to Las Palmas . However, the current Inter cannot be afraid of anyone, even more so in this segment of 2024 which has only seen her win (8 out of 8), scoring 21 goals and conceding only 4. Inzaghi is preparing to challenge his former teammate from his time at Lazio (a scudetto, a European Super Cup, an Italian Cup and an Italian Super Cup) with the awareness of being able to beat him, but also of having to take him with the so-called "springs".
Inzaghi: “Atletico plays excellent football, but we want to relive the magical nights”
“It will be a pleasure to find him again as an opponent after having been a great teammate, we have always remained in contact without losing sight of each other – underlined the Nerazzurri coach -. It was clear that he would become a great coach and the results against Atletico speak for themselves. He has been in the same club for 13 years and has won a lot. In addition to the impact he gives to the teams, this year it is a pleasure to watch Atletico play. Predicting the match is not easy, in the last few matches they have often changed the way they play: against Las Palmas they were very aggressive, but in the Spanish Super Cup they did not have the same attitude, as against Sevilla or Athletic. I have no certainties other than that we face a great team. We know what we did last year by experiencing magical nights with the club and fans and we would like to do it again, even if we know that there are great teams with the same aspiration. It will be a very complicated shift, but we'll play great over 180 minutes. San Siro will be beautiful and it will be wonderful to play the match, we will need the real Inter."
Simeone: “Inter is among the 4-5 strongest teams in Europe, at the level of Real Madrid”
"I think that Inter is among the best 4-5 teams in Europe at this moment – Simeone's thoughts -. Just look at what they are doing in the league, last year in the Champions League they played a great final against Manchester City. It will be a match of many duels, whoever wins the most of them will have a better chance of winning. At Inter I then spent the best two years of my career, in a very strong team. I have great memories of the group of players we had, I'm in a place where I love the people there and I'll live with that. I also have a great relationship with Inzaghi for the years together that we spent at Lazio, we talked a lot and you could see his hunger for football. He had a coach in his body and we will meet again tomorrow: I love him very much and I am very happy with what he is doing with Inter, he is great and is managing a group of guys who follow him a lot very well."
Inter - Atletico Madrid, the lineups: Inzaghi focuses on the "very starters", Simeone finds Morata (on the bench)
There is no doubt about the lineup at Inter, where after the mini-turnover seen against Salernitana they will once again focus on the so-called "starters", with the exception of the injured Acerbi. Inzaghi's 3-5-2 will thus see Sommer in goal, Pavard, De Vrij and Bastoni in defence, Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan and Dimarco in midfield, Thuram and Lautaro in attack. A few more doubts for Simeone, who however can celebrate Morata's quick recovery: the attacker, who injured his knee on 11 February in Seville, seemed to have to stay in the box for 3-4 weeks, but instead he has already returned to training in the group, so much so that he earned the call-up to Milan. Cholo, at least initially, will leave him on the bench, opting for a 5-3-2 with Oblak between the posts, Molina, Witsel, Gimenez, Hermoso and Reinildo in the defensive department, Koke, De Paul and Saul in the midfield, Llorente and Griezmann offensive pair, even if there is also the more offensive option with Depay on the pitch (Llorente would move into the middle in Saul's place).
