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It is one week until the Derby della Madonnina, and the next few days will be dominated by build-up to the game between Inter and AC Milan.
As MilanNews report, it will be first place against third place, with two points separating the two teams. It is two teams that changed coaches in the summer as Simone Inzaghi left Inter and was replaced by Cristian Chivu, while Massimiliano Allegri took over from Sergio Conceicao.
Results so far
Inter are tied for first place with Roma, and are leading the league despite defeats against Udinese, Juventus and Napoli. Milan are in third and two points back despite stumbles against Cremonese, Pisa and Parma.
The Nerazzurri have struggled in the two big matches so far, while the Rossoneri have been the best in the league. Chivu’s side are beating the ‘lesser’ teams with regularity, while Allegri’s team continue to drop frustrating points due to defensive lapses.
Inter have had an extremely positive performance in the Champions League: four wins out of four, eleven goals scored and only one conceded. Milan are not in Europe, but given there has been an international break, there is no advantage in this sense.
Injuries
Dumfries and Calhanoglu left their national teams with ‘injuries’ that merely appear to be excuses to make the most of the full week before the derby. Milan hopes to see Adrien Rabiot back with the squad as early as Tuesday, when training resumes at Milanello.
Meanwhile, Jashari – who played 90 minutes in the friendly loss against Entella – is starting to get some playing time after his serious injury at the end of August. Christian Pulisic and Pervis Estupinan are close behind and are fit and eligible, having recovered from injuries sustained during the last break.
If all goes well over the next two days, the coach and his staff should have the entire squad available by Thursday. Specifically, Gabbia, Ricci, Maignan, Nkunku, Leao, and Pavlovic are expected to return to Milanello on Tuesday. Modric and Odogu will return to training on Wednesday.
The remaining players, Bartesaghi, Saelemaekers, De Winter, and Athekame, will be back at the training ground on Thursday. Santi Gimenez is still sidelined with an ankle injury; it will be clear during the week whether he’ll be fit or not.
System changes
Given all this, how will Allegri approach the derby? Last year, after a couple of nightmare seasons, the Rossoneri returned to prominence in the Milan derby.
Paulo Fonseca kicked off the positive streak by deploying a super-attacking 4-2-3-1/4-2-4 with Pulisic, Morata, Abraham and Leao all starting. The result was a late winner from Matteo Gabbia, snapping the run of six defeats in a row.
This line of attackers applying strong high pressing on Inter’s building out from the back was the theme that allowed the Rossoneri to win three derbies (Serie A, Super Cup final, Coppa Italia semi-final) and draw two.
Will Allegri stick with the 3-5-2, or will he pull something else out of his hat? We will find out in the coming days.
Before a ball was kicked, there was talk of Inter spending big on Ademola Lookman and Chivu accommodating him by playing a 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 system. In the end however he has settled on the 3-5-2 that Simone Inzaghi instilled after Antonio Conte, with three centre-backs, three midfielders and two strikers.
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