The twin mode of this champions duel combined with the faint start of the rivals predetermines the most important matches for both teams. Although, if you look at upcoming events from the position of “Inter”, the chances of “Spartacus” are viewed with great tension. After failures in meetings with “Sporting” and “Bavaria”, recognized at the headquarters as black and blue local, Milanese coach Roberto Mancini outlined the remaining four games to score 10 points. It is easy to calculate that he intends to take 9 of them in fights with Russian and Portuguese clubs, and another, apparently, is planned for an away game with the Munich team.
Well, on paper everything looks smoothly - no worse than this summer, when Inter was awarded a scudetto after the fact. Now, by the way, the owner of the club Massimo Moratti proclaimed the primary goal of winning the present, not the “paper" championship. However, it would be naive to seriously believe that shifting Inter's priorities to the Italian front would somehow make life easier for Muscovites. No matter how sophisticated Moratti’s eloquence is, everyone understands that the Champions League is a self-sufficient tournament gathering the strongest clubs in Europe. Of course, a matter of honor for Inter is to be at least among the 16 best.
Nevertheless, the game of Milanese is now far from ideal. There are many reasons for this, the main of which is staffing difficulties. There was no case that the “Nerazzurri” held two consecutive matches today with one team. Leading football players are constantly plagued by injuries and disqualifications. For example, Grosso and Ibrahimovic, as well as injured Crespo and Kambiasso, who were removed in the previous game with Bayern, will definitely not come out against Spartak.
As a result, Mancini is limited in his choice of tactics and placement. And they, by the way, over the past month and a half have changed much more often than in the previous five years. Having made a number of high-profile acquisitions in the offseason, the coach is forced to balance on the verge of observing the interests of the stars entrusted to him, indulging them in something. Hence the constant shyness: from the scheme with three supporting midfielders to the model with three strikers.
However, in the Sunday match against “Catania” (2: 1), Mancini, due to his limited choice, returned to his favorite “classic” 4-4-2. A two-week break, caused by ubiquitous matches of the national teams, contrary to assumptions, did not contribute to the improvement of team interactions. The newbie of the “A” series surpassed the leader in this component, and lost only because of the understandable difference in individual skill. In particular, the game was made by Dejan Stankovic, distinguished by a double. After the meeting, Mancini chose not to pay attention to obvious flaws in organization and coherence, and simply advised him to enjoy the result.
In any case, this season (and the coach understands this perfectly) is decisive for him. After all, he has been in the team for the third year already. And according to all the canons, this time is enough to create a combat-ready squad - all the more so since he has a club club under his control. In the meantime, Mancini has to fend off the ongoing rumors of an imminent resignation: "In June, when I succeed, I will willingly give up the post. In the meantime, all talk about my departure is groundless."
From this, the clouds above the head of the coach do not stop to thicken. Rumor has it that Roberto does not have the proper authority: they say that he still does not completely feel like a mentor - he enters into disputes with players, is picky on trifles and weak as a psychologist. A portion of the negative is supplemented by the scandal related to the surveillance of some former performers.
In such a chaotic and controversial state, “Inter” approaches the game with “Spartak”. In this case, there is no doubt that for black and blue it will not differ much from, say, the last fight with “Catania”. Both rivals in the perception of Milanese football players are about the same caliber.
Naturally, Muscovites have a different disposition: they do not have to visit one of the iconic football centers in Italy every year.
... The experience of participating in matches of this rank is a great thing. And the players of "Inter" is much more. And they, whatever one may say, are obvious favorites here.
Denis ORLOV
See also: “Inter” will arrange a victory