Inter go 11 points clear of Milan with 9 games to go

Surely the Serie A title will be Inter’s now after they pulled 11 points clear at the top. Milan could only draw 1-1 at home to Sampdoria and Inter won at the weekend and then followed that up with their 22nd win of the season on Wednesday evening when they beat Sassuolo 2-1. Inter have won their last 10 games in a row and have simply been fantastic this season- and they will be deserved champions it seems.

Let’s take a recap on Inter’s last 2 games in the league.

This past weekend Inter played Bologna away from home in what is never an easy game for any club in the league. Bologna are in 11th place but have always made it tricky for teams visiting and they did so once again for the champions elect. In the end it took a solo effort from Romelu Lukaku to settle the game just after the half hour mark. Lukaku.

Inter were technically the better side but Bologna had their chances although they did go quieter in the 2nd half. It was Lukaku’s goal that won the game in a 1-0 win and it was Lukaku’s 20th goal of the season as he tries to catch up with Cristiano Ronaldo. It was hardly a vintage performance from Inter, but it’s all about those 3 points and they were able to achieve that at the weekend.

In midweek Inter played Sassuolo this was a game that was originally scheduled a few weeks ago but a Covid outbreak in the Inter side put paid to that and so it had to be carried over. Inter won the game 2-1 through the usual suspects of Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez.

Lukaku opened the scoring after just 10 minutes after a cross by Ashley Young, Lukaku sweetly headed the ball in. It was a first half in which Inter played good football and looked like the better team and they went in 1-0 up at half time.

Inter doubled their lead half way through the second half when Lukaku broke clear and played the ball to Martinez who made no mistake in scoring his 15th league goal of the season. However just before that break Sassuolo really should have been awarded a penalty. Indeed the away side got the better of Inter in the 2nd half and were much the better side and were unlucky to have not at least drawn the game in the end, even though they were able to pull a goal back with five minutes to go.

Inter coach Antonio Conte had this to say after Inter’s latest victory, “We had to become more determined, more focused in every situation, as well as more resilient. There are games like today where we can be up against teams with no pressure and if we are more clinical, we can score five or six goals. Sassuolo kept it open to the end, even if they scored only when Milan Skriniar was off the field. I congratulate Sassuolo, as they came here to play their game and this performance shows how much we’ve grown. With this attitude, we’d still be in the Champions League.”

This weekend Inter will play 18th placed Cagliari at home and will be the favourites to win that one, although the away side are battling relegation, though they haven’t won a game in over 5 weeks.

Are you a Serie A expert? Can you defeat the top Serie A Fantasy Managers? If you think so, play fantasyseriea.com!

 

Is the Scudetto realistic for Inter this season?

Internazionale have spent big again this summer, so far bringing in the likes of Achraf Hakimi (€40m), Nicolo Barella (€25m), Stefano Sensi (€20m) and Arturo Vidal as they look to challenge Juventus for the Serie A title.

Antonio Conte’s side made an exciting start to the 2020-21 campaign on Saturday with a dramatic 4-3 victory at home to Fiorentina, with goals in the 87th and 89th minutes, from Romelu Lukaku and Danilo D’Ambrosio respectively.

Their participation in the Europa League final last month saw them given an additional week’s rest so they are a game behind the majority of the league, though Atalanta and Lazio were also given an extra week to prepare, as well as each of their scheduled opponents.

Three points for I Nerazzurri will have come to much relief given that Fiorentina already had a competitive game under their belt – a 1-0 win over Torino the prior weekend.

In a further boost to Inter’s hopes of winning the Scudetto for the first time since 2010, reigning champions Juventus were held to a 2-2 draw away to AS Roma on Sunday. Andrea Pirlo’s side were reduced to 10 men early in the second half.

Given a rookie manage in charge, many are expecting the 2020-21 Serie A title race to be open this campaign, the first time in several years. Napoli and AC Milan have both made impressive starts themselves, taking six points from six.

Inter’s hopes of sustaining a title challenge this season has all the ingredients they need, especially if they keep hold of star striker Lautaro Martinez, amid strong interest from Barcelona.

The Argentine has formed a great partnership with Romelu Lukaku up front, with the pair scoring 37 league goals between them last campaign.

Behind them, Conte has a wealth of talent to pick from. He went with Ashley Young, Nicolo Barella, Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Perisic and Christian Eriksen in his 3-5-2 formation for his season opener, with Achraf Hakimi, Alexis Sanchez, Stefano Sensi, Arturo Vidal and Radja Nainggolan all coming off the bench.

Behind them is a talented defence of Stefan de Vrij, Milan Skriniar and Alessandro Bastoni, backed up by the reliable Samir handanovic.

The manager himself knows all about success. Antonio Conte started Juventus’ current run of titles during his first season in charge back in 2011-12, winning all three during his time in Turin before taking over the Italian national team. Conte won the English Premier League title in his first attempt at Chelsea too.

Whilst Juventus have dominated the league for the past nine seasons they have taken a huge risk with the appointment of inexperienced manager Pirlo, regardless of how good he was as a player himself.

The Old Lady’s main ambition is also to win the Champions League, which could have a negative impact on their domestic campaign, particularly with how competitive it is getting at the top now.

If ever there was a season for Inter Milan fans to head into confidently, it has to be this one. With the manager and players at their disposal they have the makings of being 2020-21 Serie A champions.

Do you know Italian football well? Think you can challenge the best Serie A Fantasy Managers? Play www.fantasyseriea.com now!

Serie A Best Fantasy XI – Round 38

Juan Musso: he ended his season with one of his finest performances, as he frustrated all Sassuolo attempts with great saves, in particular on a pair of bombs by Domenico Berardi and Hamed Traore, which he pulled out of the top shelf.

Danilo D’Ambrosio: another successful outing for Inter’s jack-of-all-trades, who broke the deadlock right away against Atalanta, in more typical fashion this time, as he bagged a header on a corner kick taking advantage of a defensive mishap. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Recap – Round 38

Standings implications: Inter saved best for last as they sunk Atalanta, securing the second place and closing one point shy of Juventus, which did not bother showing up against Roma. Lazio stayed in fourth as they were bested by Napoli. In the relegation zone, Lecce went down in typical chaotic fashion versus Parma, while Genoa’s win over Verona was never in doubt and so the Salentini are the final team to move back to Serie B.

In the meaningless portion of the schedule, Milan kept it going against Cagliari, Udinese picked up a quality win over Sassuolo, Bologna shared the spoils Torino, Sampdoria with Brescia.

Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Preview – Round 34

VERONA-ATALANTA

Verona: after a consistent stretch with a pure striker up front, Ivan Juric went back to a false-nine, Valerio Verre in this case, against Roma, but the results were not that great, with the second half push coming on the heels of the subs. The returns from injury of Fabio Borini, Eddie Salcedo and Valentin Eysseric will allow the coach to go that route more often, especially against top teams, although Samuel Di Carmine has been decently effective (three goals in the last six games). Mattia Pessina scored again and he has separated himself from their slew of attacking midfielders, while Mattia Zaccagni picked up the assist. Darko Lazovic has been their most consistent player.

Suggested picks: Pessina, Lazovic, Borini. Continue reading

Serie A Best Fantasy XI – Round 29

Juan Musso (7 points): only three teams managed to keep a clean sheet in another goal-filled round and the Udinese goalie did against the opponents with the higher profile, accompanying it with few decent saves.

Danilo D’Ambrosio (9 points): the veteran defender benefitted from some heavy rotation to get in the XI and, as he has often done in the past couple of seasons, managed to shake free in the box and knock one on goal with a header. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Preview – Round 24

SPAL-Juventus: Luigi Di Biagio devised a new system in his debut, arraying his men with a 4-3-3. While they failed to get the win, they attacked more than usual and Andrea Petagna bagged the ninth goal of his campaign. Federico Di Francesco has always been playing in very offensive role, but he is more comfortable out wide and the trident was completed by Mattia Valoti in that case, although Gabriel Strefezza will have his chances too. The duo gets a bump thanks to the coaching change, likewise Mirko Valdifiori, who resurfaced and can be a decent weapon on set pieces, as a matter of fact he picked up an assist with a corner kick. Simone Missiroli is back at box-to-box like earlier in his career, joining the sneaky Lucas Castro. On the downside, Arkadiusz Reca, and Mohamed Fares when he will be ready, will feature as fullback, so few meters behind what they were accustomed to doing. Scoring has been one of their main issues so far, as they have no reliable contributors behind Petagna. Continue reading

Serie A Match of the Round – Lazio vs Inter

Lazio-Inter was the most anticipated match going into round 24: it was pretty tight but still had a decent amount of action, so it takes home the shout-out in combination with its potentially huge significance in the title race.

The Biancocelesti were handed their last loss in the first meeting between the two sides back in September and then proceeded to go on a still ongoing terrific run, although they had slowed down a bit lately with two draws in the past four contests. The Nerazzurri were instead coming off two Ws, the first versus Udinese and then a crazy one in the Derby. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Recap – Round 24

Standings implications: Lazio emerged victorious in the crunch game with Inter, thus surpassing the Nerazzurri in second position and staying one point behind Juventus, which did their job versus Brescia. Roma put up a fight in Bergamo, but Atalanta still rallied back and took home a monumental victory in the Champions League race as they have built a six-point lead over the direct rival.

Parma re-entered the conversation for the sixth spot by railroading Sassuolo and caught Verona in the standings, then Milan answered on Monday night. The Scaligeri and Udinese did not get in the way of the respective targets with a nil-nil tie, but it will not be long before the Zebrette will have to resume watching underneath them. Genoa and Lecce continue streaking by toppling Bologna and SPAL, putting all the other relegation zone competitors in high alert, especially Sampdoria, which were trounced by Fiorentina and are now in 17th position, so sandwiched between the two.

Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Preview – Round 23

Atalanta-Roma: the Goddess continue to add to their offensive arsenal, as Duvan Zapata is returning two his usual pre-injury numbers (two goals and three assists in the last four games) and Ruslan Malinovskyi came through last week. The Ukrainian attacker seems to have surpassed Luis Muriel as first option off the bench. Josip Ilicic did not score against Fiorentina, but still had a great performance and he has been en fuego for a while. The one small negative is that, with their front-line now featuring two quality scorers, Alejandro Gomez is back at looking more to feed them rather than finishing on his own: as a matter of fact he set up two goals last week and has not hit the net since in six weeks. Timothy Castagne came back and he is a bigger offensive weapon than the more diligent Hans Hateboer, but they will likely continue to alternate, while Robin Gosens on the opposite flank is slowing down a bit after a gorgeous January. Mario Pasalic fumbled away a pair of sitters in Florence. Rafael Toloi (one goal and six assists) has been their most intriguing defender. Continue reading