And to think that someone considers it a minor tournament. There Coppa Italia, after the starter of the Milanese derby in the quarterfinals, is ready to take the stage with two screaming semifinals like Inter-Juventus e Napoli-Atalanta, from which, after the return races, the two who will compete for the trophy on May 26th will come out. The one between the Nerazzurri and the Bianconeri however, for obvious reasons, it is the most awaited match of all, a sort of anticipated final which can have very interesting implications also in terms of the championship. Whoever wins, in fact, will have an enormous injection of enthusiasm, while whoever is eliminated, come on, will receive a blow, not to laugh at.
Compared to the other rounds this one it is played between round trips, which is why it is possible that the teams avoid revealing themselves too much, at least on paper: because then, when one takes the field, one episode can be enough to blow up any speech. The challenge arrives just two weeks away from that of the championship, where Inter prevailed quite clearly. Today, however, unlike January 17, the nerazzurri will have the heaviest absences (Lukaku and Hakimi), while Juve, which that evening was without Cuadrado and Alex Sandro, will be able to count on an almost complete squad (“only” Dybala and Ramsey will be missing).
“It's not the first time we've missed Romelu, but we'll still have Lautaro and Sanchez – he glossed over Tale – Juve will have a poisoned tooth after the league knockout, we'll have to stay on track and keep mistakes to a minimum. In any case, the qualification will be played on 180', just like last year against Napoli, when unfortunately we lost at home and drew in the second leg. We will have to be good and do our best."
On the black and white front there is actually a great desire for redemption, but also an eye on the championship, which on Saturday he will face Roma of Fonseca for a really important match. Looking closely, the whole period will be very delicate for the Bianconeri, who are awaited by a tour de force that will see them play against Inter, Roma, Inter again and Napoli: the season is still long, God forbid, but the feeling is that in these two weeks there will be a lot of play.
"The defeat in the league taught us a lot, but above all it made us understand that, when we're not on track, we're not ourselves - he explained Pirlo – From there, however, we restarted with great performances, but now we mustn't rest because we are only at the beginning of the second leg, there are still many games to play”.
INTER-JUVENTUS: THE LINE-UPS
The match, even if it's the first leg, counts a lot, as demonstrated by the choices of the two coaches, who will limit the turnover to what is strictly necessary. Conte, as previously mentioned without the disqualified Lukaku (by the way: the FIGC prosecutor has opened an investigation into the brawl between him and Ibrahimovic) and Hakimi, will line up a 3-5-2 with Handanovic in goal, Skriniar, De Vrij and Bastoni in defense, Darmian, Barella, Brozovic, Vidal and Young in midfield, Sanchez and Lautaro Martinez in attack.
Typical training also for Pirlo, who will respond with Cup goalkeeper Buffon between the posts, De Ligt, Bonucci and Alex Sandro in the back, Cuadrado, Arthur, Bentancur, McKennie and Chiesa in the midfield, Morata (favorite over Kulusevski) and Ronaldo as a duo offensive. In the meantime, the winter transfer market closed yesterday, without any noteworthy calls from one side or the other, except for the sale of Khedira to Hertha Berlin (at no cost, but with a saving of around 6 million) .
Inter, as has been known for some time now, was unable to move due to the famous due diligence, and the juiciest news of the day came from there: the negotiations between Suning and the BC Partners fund, exclusively for 10 days now, they stopped. It will be difficult for them to resume, so much so that Goldman Sachs (which follows the deal on behalf of the Chinese) would already be working to find new buyers: we are talking about the Swedes of Eqt, but also of Fortress and the sovereign wealth fund of the Emirates Mubadala, which for some time ago he had already bought 10% of Ferrari, to then resell it.
