Juve rejoices, Inter returns home with their heads held high. The Bianconeri take the Derby d'Italia thanks to a masterpiece by Cuadrado but the Nerazzurri, albeit disappointed by the defeat, do not come out downsized at all and are confirmed as transformed compared to a couple of months ago. Allegri's team can celebrate 3 very heavy points in the Scudetto projection, Pioli's, in the second consecutive knockout after the one in the Italian Cup, still keeps its third-place ambitions intact.
“I'm happy with what the boys did, it was a very high-level match, like a quarter-final or a semi-final of the Champions League – commented the Juventus coach. – I had asked for such an attitude and I was satisfied, in any case I also congratulate Inter because there were opportunities on both sides".
As often happens in games of this type, it was the champion's play that decided. Cuadrado's joker came out of the Juventus "wheel", full of top players, very good at coordinating from 25 meters and piercing Handanovic with a ground-to-air missile (45'). Decisive episode in breaking the balance of a very intense match played substantially on an equal footing, especially in the first half.
If Juve came close to scoring with Dybala and Pjanic (stopped by the crossbar and two great saves from the Slovenian goalkeeper), Inter had done the same with Gagliardini, Joao Mario and Icardi, confirming a match on the razor's edge. After the 1-0 draw, however, the bianconeri were able to manage the match better, and in the second half they were the ones who had the best chances (Handanovic still very good on Higuain and Mandzukic), against a brave but not very effective Inter.
In a positive evening for Italian football, however, there are some shadows: the excessive reactions of Brozovic and Lichtsteiner at the time of the substitutions, but above all some mistakes by Rizzoli which ended up damaging the Nerazzurri. Indeed, in the first half, the referee did not notice two interventions on Icardi (one by Chiellini, the other by Mandzukic) which had to be punished with a penalty, thus arousing Pioli's anger.
"The additional was just a few steps away, unfortunately the decisions went against us - the thought of the Nerazzurri coach - I'm sorry because in matches like this it's the episodes that make the difference, in any case we lost also due to our mistake because we left the Cuadrado area uncovered. I'm sorry for the defeat but I'm satisfied with the performance, we played as a real team against the best in Italy and we have to start over from this”.
The Derby d'Italia promised a lot and lived up to expectations: this time, Italian football offered the world a respectable business card.
