Serie A, Scudetto: everything depends on Inter

With AC Milan’s 0-0 in Turin, Inter is back in control of its destiny. By winning the last 8 games (including the recovery of Bologna), it will be Scudetto. Let’s analyze the reasons for the turning point, which took place in Turin.

THE HEAD

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The certification came from Simone Inzaghi: “The head was heavy, because the results were not coming”. Inter has unlocked. And now she is mistress of her own destiny again: by virtue of Milan’s draw with Turin, the Nerazzurri are back in control of their own destiny, because by winning all of them no one could hook them. We needed a password, a right combination, a straight night. Inter was good at building it in Turin with Juventus. And against Verona, as if by magic, she took the field with a newfound lightness. A fan at the San Siro said at the end of the first half on Saturday: “It feels like December”. And no, the reference was not to the cold wind which also made itself felt. But to a team that returned, at least for the first 45 minutes, to the overwhelming one that had split the standings and the championship in winter. Inzaghi managed to hit the right buttons. He did not dramatize on the eve of the match against Juve. He made the team responsible for the fact that that match was a final, but he didn’t change the usual concepts. And last week he pushed on the accelerator instead. Inter responded in terms of approach and motivations. There is a post-match passage from Igor Tudor, the Verona coach, which helps to understand: “Inter always came first on second balls.” And that aspect calls into question concentration and motivation. Inter believe in it today more than before. The password, after all, was always the same: 20, second star.

THE BODY

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Run that passes you. And at Inter the classification sore has passed, in fact. Was it just a matter of mind? No, Inter is back to having the inspiration, the brilliance, the living leg. In Turin he held up against Juve without ever suffering physically, with Verona in the first half he dominated from the point of view of reactivity. It is not a matter of total kilometers covered: to be clear, against Tudor’s team Inter ran a total of 114.3 kilometers, against Fiorentina before the break they had been 115.9. But Inter simply ran better, returning as they once did to attack high. The reason? No particular recall of athletic training. But one detail helps to understand: Inter are back to preparing a match with a whole week at their disposal. Inzaghi chose not to include double sessions, but he was able to manage the approach to the match in a more gentle and calibrated way. The result has been seen. This will not always be the case, however. Already on Friday another tour de force begins, made up of five commitments in 16 days. And then another step forward is needed. After freeing their heads and legs, Inter must now grow in energy management. The physical data collected in Appiano show good parameters for most of the elements in pink. But it is clear that we are at the last tears of the season. And Inter have not yet learned how to best distribute their forces. Also against Verona there was a decline in the second half: it was not just the management of the match, but a necessary slowdown due to the great effort produced in the first 45 minutes. It is a necessary step, because it will not always be possible to close the conversation in the first half. It is the last step to climb, even more so before a physically and mentally demanding period. And this is where Inzaghi will beat this week.

THE KEY MEN

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When Inzaghi remembers, with a controversial note, that the injuries of the other teams have been less underlined than those of Inter, he is telling a partial truth. Because everything can be said, except that Brozovic’s absence was not commented on and cited as an explanation of the difficult period of the Nerazzurri. Now the glass is full again. And in the glass, in addition to the French wine tasted by Barella, you can find that Croatian director who has returned to run Inzaghi’s engine with an almost forgotten efficiency. Brozovic is quantity (again the player with the most kilometers covered between the Nerazzurri, against Verona), quality and geometry: he is there, as the key man of the Inter rebirth. And beside him, who else, Barella. Nicolò came out of a complicated period reacting with personality to a bitter disappointment, such as the lack of qualification for the World Cup. He filled two games with clarity and motivation. The one that has never been lacking in Skriniar, actually. He is the third key man of Inzaghi, it is he who has raised the wall of a defense that has become difficult to beat. Inzaghi relied on his certainties to go back to caressing the championship. Yes, ok, there is a busy period in front of Inter’s eyes. But for these three the rest cannot exist, the Nerazzurri’s destiny depends on them. And it is no coincidence that Inter has already signed the renewal to two of them. For the third, it is just a matter of time.