Tag: inter milan

Club World Cup Preview: Inter Milan

Like it or not, the Club World Cup is happening this summer and as the tournament kicks off on Sunday, what better way to reluctantly throw open our arms and welcome the tournament than by previewing the first of two Italian participants to the tournament: Internazionale Milano.

Now, I’m treading dodgy ground here because my last prediction blog for Inter didn’t fare too well. Read it in this post here, but essentially Frattesi didn’t kick a ball, Lautaro was missing and Acerbi had no one to mark and they lost 5-0.

So let’s steer clear of making bold predictions this time and just stick to the facts. Who are Inter playing, what are they like and when are the games on.

Tournament Overview

Let’s start with a simple one, the tournament starts on Sunday June 15th and will run until July 13th when the final is held at New York’s MetLife Stadium.

The group stage runs until June 26th and features eight groups of four, as per previous international World Cups the top two from each group progress. Inter were drawn in Group E.

Group E

Group E features Italy’s own Inter Milan, along with River Plate from Argentina, Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan and Mexico’s CF Monterrey.

Inter kick things off on Tuesday 17th June at 6pm local time as they face Monterrey at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Los Angeles. The team touched down there overnight and have a few days training to adjust to the rather insane time difference.

Their second and third matches both take place at Lumen Field in Seattle, facing Urawa Red Diamonds on Saturday June 21st and River Plate in what is likely to be a group decider on the 25th.

Let’s take a closer look at each team involved…

Inter Milan

Shaky season for the Nerazzurri, placing second in the league to Napoli, coming a distant second in the Champions League final after a rather forgettable night in Munich and then losing their coach Simone Inzaghi straight after the final.

Christian Chivu is in place, though and will be eager to impress. There’s a lot of tired legs in the Inter squad which is the oldest on average in Serie A. However, new signings Petar Susic and Luis Henrique are young, refreshed and on the plane.

Petar Susic is a new signing at Inter Milan

Inter are heavy favourites for the group, with an 81.2% chance of qualifying and a 63.3% chance to top the group according to Opta. Some of these Inter players need a big performance after their end to the season and I wouldn’t bet against a deep run into the latter stages of this competition. There will be pressure from owners Oaktree to perform and scoop some prize money if they want to have a productive summer.

River Plate

Potentially the trickiest team in the group for Inter. They qualified by being the top eligible representative based on the CONMEBOL’s four year ranking. River Plate are Argentina’s most famous powerhouse club and come packed with Libertadores pedigree.

Watch out for Franco Mastantuono. You probably saw him go viral earlier in the year with an insane free kick. The 10 is a generational talent and at 17 years old could probably rival Yamal for future Ballon D’Or’s and be the next Messi and Ronaldo.

Franco Mastantuono

River Plate were pleased to keep him for the tournament given the inevitable interest from Real Madrid who like to farm up young South Americans like hoarders. He may not be around much longer after the World Cup so he’ll be keen to go our with a bang.

At right back, 28 year old Gonzalo Montiel will add experience down the flanks. Montiel is a two time Copa America winner and one time World Cup winner so he’s no fool. He may pose just a few issues for Di Marco on that side as he’s known to like to push forward and pin wing backs deep. Chivu may consider Zalewski for this assignment.

One sight that may be familiar to Calcio fans in the River Plate ranks is centre back Lucas Martinez Quarta. Quarta spent 5 seasons in Italy with Fiorentina and represented La Viola 105 times in that spell. He recently rejoined the Argentine side and after averaging a goal every 11 games or so in Italy, he’s a centre back to be watched.

CF Monterrey

Qualified for the tournament through their CONCACAF Champions Cup ranking, they finished 7th in Liga MX and lost to Toluca in the quarter finals round on away goals.

After losing to Vancouver in the Champions Cup Round of 16 they probably don’t pose the biggest threat to Inter but in Los Angeles they’ll have a large Mexican crowd to back them and home advantage where weather is concerned.

A physical, high paced team, it may be the test that Inter just don’t need to start the tournament off after a long season. Uruguayan international Santiago Mele is a new signing and is likely to be between the sticks for the Mexicans given he was signed specifically for the tournament in the brief transfer window we’ve just had.

Their creative spark will likely come from Colombian Nelson Deossa in the centre of the park. The 25 year old is Monterrey’s most valuable player at €6m according to website Transfermarkt. Deossa provided 5 goals and 1 assist in his 21 matches this season, as well as picking up 3 yellow cards so he packs a punch as well as contributing in forward areas.

Urawa Red Diamonds

The 2022 AFC Champions League winners are the fourth team to make up Group E. Based at the impressive Saitama Stadium that was built for the 2002 World Cup (peak nostalgia era) they sit 3rd in the J-League and are taking a mid season break to compete in the Club World Cup.

This makes them arguably the freshest team competing and the three times AFC Champions League winners will be a danger if underestimated.

In 21 matches so far this season, Ryoma Watanabe has contributed 6 goals and 6 assists from wide positions. Their top scoring midfielder, his pace will be an issue, another headache potentially for Fede Di Marco!

Ryoma Watanabe

Theirs South American flair in the side too, in the shape of Matheus Savio. The set piece specialist (no viral videos here) has contributed 2 goals and 6 assists so far this season from centre midfield. The guy has an engine apparently and his high energy performances will cause a problem for a tired and ageing Inter midfield.

What’s next?

Well the winners of Group E will face the runners up from Group F and with Inter tipped to qualify as group winners they’ll hope to secure a favourable tie in the next round. Finishing second means they’ll face the winners of Group F.

This means that their next opponents will be anyone from Fluminense (Brazil), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Ulsan HD (Korea) or Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa).

Inzaghi signs with Al Hilal

After that it becomes a lot less clearer to predict, but there is the prospect in the Quarter Final of an early meeting with former boss Simone Inzaghi and his Al Hilal side, so keep your eyes on that…

12th Jun 2025
The Calcio Managerial Merry Go Round: Who, When and Why

We’re only a month on from the end of the 2024/25 season in Italy and already there’s more talking points that throughout most of the actual season. And the main one seems to be, who on Earth is going to be managing in Serie A next season?

Axes have been wielded, resignations have been handed in and managers have been caught flirting with rival clubs. So what’s going on? And what’s still to come? Hopefully I’ve made sense of it below for you…

Fiorentina

After being appointed in June last year to replace Vincenzo Italiano, Fiorentina manager Raffaele Palladino has left the club “by mutual consent”. There’s no replacement as yet, although Stefan Pioli is being heavily linked with the role according to Viola Nation. Seen by some as a stabilising influence, he’ll need to use all his experience to turn around a gradual decline in Firenze.

Atalanta

After 9 very successful years at the club, Gian Piero Gasperini has left Atalanta. During his time in Bergamo, Gasperini led Atalanta into the Champions League five times and his tenure was characterised by swashbuckling attacking play. He famously led the team to the 2024 Europa League title.

His replacement at Atalanta? It’s a baffling one… Ivan Juric has been handed the reigns in Northern Italy. That’s the same Ivan Juric that oversaw a disastrous spell in Rome last season before heading to England to somehow make Southampton worse than they already were – avoiding being the worst team in Premier League history by 1 point.

Roma

Gasperini comes through the door at Roma replacing firm fan favourite Claudio Ranieri. His move “upstairs” may be put on hold, however, with the news that Spalletti is leaving the national team job. Ranieri is the favourite to take the Azzurri through the rest of the World Cup qualifying campaign. Watch this space!

Lazio

Across the city and Roma’s great rivals Lazio have also had a change in the dugout after a rather underwhelming end to the season. A comeback draw at the San Siro to hand Napoli the Scudetto was a brief highlight in an otherwise forgettable season under Marco Baroni. He was dismissed and Maurizio Sarri is back after a 15 month hiatus. Sarri was announced in spectacular fashion by the media team at Lazio and the former banker will be chain smoking his way through next season with the hopes he can restore the Lazio empire.

AC Milan

In Italy’s second city, change is also afoot. For the second time in a season Milan sacked their manager after Fonseca didn’t see in 2025, Conceicao is now also gone. An underwhelming season all round, Conceicao paid the price for an 8th place finish and no European football next season after a Coppa Italia final defeat. However, brief respite was offered in the shape of a 3-2 defeat of city rivals Inter in the Supercoppa final.

Allegri returns to Milan for next season after a break from the game following a trophy-laden spell at Juventus. In his first spell at Milan, he won the Serie A title and Supercoppa, Milan certainly hope he can repeat that next season.

Inter Milan

So near, yet so far to a treble. Dumped out of the Coppa Italia in the semi finals by Milan, beaten in the Supercoppa final, trounced in the Champions League final and second to Napoli by a point. Inter’s season could broadly be viewed as fairly successful until April. Simone Inzaghi was in demand from Al-Hilal and the news breaking in the run up to the final didn’t help their preparation.

A mutual parting followed a 5-0 defeat from PSG. Inter acted swiftly to woo Cesc Fabregas who promptly turned them down in a rather embarrassing episode. Christian Chivu is the man to take them forward. Their former centre back was manager of the Under 19 team who won the Primavera before being installed at Parma to secure Serie A survival. It’s a gamble, but Inter weren’t left with much choice with the Club World Cup on the horizon.

Torino

Further down the table, Torino parted company with Paolo Vanoli and replaced him almost immediately with Marco Baroni following his sacking by Lazio.

Parma

Parma only confirmed today that Christian Chivu had left the club after only a few short months. He replaced Fabio Pecchia in February and had the brief to save the club from an immediate return to Serie B. He did it, and then left for Inter. Rumours about a replacement are few and far between, but they’ll need to act fast to avoid losing out in the summer transfer window.

Italy National Team

In true bizarre fashion, national team manager Luciano Spalletti announced his own sacking in a press conference after a 3-0 defeat in Norway. But he’s not going anywhere yet… He’s managing the team tonight against Moldova before finally leaving. Clear? Thought not. Ranieri is the favourite to replace him since Calcio has some clear agenda on letting the poor guy retire in peace.

And there you have it. It’s been a matter of weeks since Serie A finished and the soap opera continues. Honourable mention to Juventus who look set to appoint Igor Tudor permanently after he finished off the season Thiago Motta started. Who do you think is the best appointment? Who’s undersold themselves and Who just got it plain wrong?

9th Jun 2025
A Champions League Disgrace: What Happens Next For Inter

In Milan fans of the Rossonero were holding a mock funeral for Inter’s Champions League final last night, but inside Inter’s organisation there’s already a full post mortem underway. On the receiving end of a record Champions League Final drubbing to a brilliant PSG, coming second in Serie A and losing to Milan in both the Supercoppa and Coppa Italia it’s not exactly a marquee season for Inter.

Until March they were very much looking at the possibility of a banner season and a second ever treble, going down in history with Mourinho’s team of 2010. However, a complete collapse in the league and a hiding from Milan in the Coppa semi final put paid to that. But morale boosting ties with Barcelona gave Inzaghi and his team some breathing space from too many external questions.

Last night, however, the chance to save their season and go down in history passed them by. Inter simply never arrived in Munich. A midfield that went completely missing, a confused Acerbi marking no one, Di Marco running in rings and an isolated forward line and this was not the Inter we’d come to appreciate over the last couple of seasons.

Everything Inter did to beat Barcelona’s press in those two memorable matches recently was missing, they completely went to pieces. Inzaghi didn’t seem to have an answer, rigidly sticking to his 3-5-2 in the face of its obvious failure on Saturday. Confusing substitutions and the refusal to use last minute hero Davide Frattesi meant Inzaghi faces legitimate criticism from both outside and inside the club.

Speculation began over Inzaghi’s future in the run up to the final with Gazzetta breaking the news that Al-Hilal were prepared to pay him €30m a year to break free from Inter and go to the Club World Cup with them. Last night, in his post match press conference he refused to confirm he’ll lead Inter in the tournament in America next month.

The rumours are now picking up with La Repubblica reporting that everything will be decided in a meeting Tuesday with the clubs hierarchy. There’s even a rumoured list of ready made replacements with Cesc Fabregas the front runner after his fabulous season at Como. Roberto De Zerbi from Marseille and former Inter defender and current Parma manager Christian Chivu are also on the list.

This fits firmly with the owners plan to introduce some young fire into the club. Oaktree made it clear that their strategy is to reduce the average age of the squad, something fans will be delighted by after the leggy performance of an ageing side last night. Nico Paz, the 20 year old Argentinian midfielder at Como is reportedly high on the list along with 25 year old Canadian striker Jonathan David.

They have already added Tomas Palacios, Argentinian Centre Back last August, he spent this season on loan at Monza. The club also secured their 11th Primavera title this season (the Under 20s crown), with a 3-0 victory over Fiorentina in the final.

Oaktree have a plan to freshen Inter up and last night’s “performance” probably sped this process up significantly. However, all isn’t doom and gloom over at Inter. The Gazzetta reported this month that Inter have money to spend. The Oaktree takeover from Steven Zhang is complete, the last few seasons of free transfers and big sales have boosted the coffers and given some Financial Fair Play breathing space. The almost successful European run has added millions to the bank and the Club World Cup will do the same.

The one thing Inter need to do before any of this freshening up is decide what to do with their manager. Inzaghi exposed his own weakness on Saturday night against PSG and his negotiating position isn’t as strong as it was in March. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see the club decide on a different direction, but don’t start writing the obituary of Inzaghi’s Inter yet…

1st Jun 2025
The three players who can win Inter the Champions League tomorrow night…

Inter seem to be an overwhelming second favourite for tomorrow nights Champions League Final in Munich. This despite dumping out Bayern Munich and a rather spectacular punchers victory over Barcelona in the Semi Final. The British Media are unashamedly pre-crowning PSG for the first time with Europe’s greatest prize.

So can Inter actually pull it off? Well, anyone who’s watched anything in Serie A this season will have a definite opinion: “maybe they can?” Inter have been consistently inconsistent. An absolute schellacking of Lazio 6-0 at Olimpico in December was hot on the heels of defeats in Leverkusen and Florence.

Unconvincing results against Milan and Fiorentina in January was followed up with a disappointing defeat to Juventus and when Napoli stumbled in May, Inter tripped over their own feet to throw away a victory against Lazio and with it, the scudetto.

But there was always a sense in these final months of the season that Inzaghi’s eyes were on a much bigger prize, one he never got his hands on as a player and one he let slip away two years ago as a coach. Inter’s rotation was heavy in the final weeks of the season because tiredness was clearly affecting this ageing squad.

Which brings us to tomorrow night in Munich, and after scoring 7 in two matches against the probable “best team in Europe”, Inter have a chance to make history and become European champions for a fourth time. To do it, they’ll need some key players to come big for them – and I’ve picked out three who will be key to bringing “old big ears” back across the Alps to Milano.

Lautaro Martinez – The Relentless Captain

Lauti – or El Toro – has hit an impressive 9 goals in this seasons tournament and the captain is likely to be fit to start tomorrow. He’ll almost certainly be partnered with Marcus Thuram, one of the most fearsome duos in Europe.

Martinez hit his 150th Inter goal against Bayern Munich and became their all time top European scorer, overtaking the great Sandro Mazzola. He’s their all time top foreign scorer and 5th all time scorer.

Il Capitano has a habit of flying under the radar when it comes to recognition across Europe, but the World Cup and Copa America winner will have the keen attention of the PSG defence tomorrow evening.

Davide Frattesi – The Midfield Dynamo

It’s almost guaranteed that Frattesi won’t start this game of football, Inzaghi is known to prefer his three of Calhanoglu, Barella and Mkhitaryan. However, you only have to glance at his scoring record from the bench to realise that he doesn’t just contribute – he scores HUGE goals.

Last season in March, Inter were faltering in their scudetto pursuit away at Udinese. 1-1 with seconds left on the clock when Lautaro hit the post, everyone on the pitch was watching except for Frattesi who followed in and smashed home the winner – exactly as he had done in the 2-1 home victory against Hellas Verona in January that year.

Then there’s the winner at tomorrow’s final venue earlier in the tournament against Bayern and the extra time winner against Barcelona. In fact, 5 of his 14 Inter goals have been scored on or after the 88th minute. If the game is tight in the second half, Inzaghi will 100% turn to this bundle of energy to tip the tie in Inter’s favour.

Francesco Acerbi – The Defensive Pillar

While all those around you are losing their heads, keep yours. In the San Siro on May 6th 2025 that’s exactly what Acerbi did. He bid a fond farewell to defensive partner Darmian and head off up to the attacking positions. The man that had overcome depression, alcoholism, the death of his father and testicular cancer (twice) has very little to be afraid of and incurring Inzaghi’s wrath for abandoning his post is one of them.

Sure enough, in the 93rd minute, the boyhood Inter fan smashed a Dumfries cross high into the net and the rest is history. He’s not only a great makeshift attacker though, Acerbi is a downright pain in the backside to play against. A master of the Italian art of defending, the 38 year old will have to pull out all the stops against a much younger, quicker and fitter PSG forward line. But you don’t get where Acerbi is without a few tricks up your sleeve…

So in short, yes Inter can win it. I wouldn’t mind betting that if they do, these three players will have a significant say in matters.

30th May 2025