Inter Milan will defend their title in the Italian Cup final on May 24, thanks to the 1-0 victory over Juventus won this Wednesday at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium, in the second leg of the semifinals.
The players led by coach Simone Inzaghi won with a goal by left-back Federico Dimarco in the 15th minute after an assist by Nicolo Barella.
“My team deserved this classification to the final taking into account the two games”, evaluated the ‘interista’ coach in an interview with Mediaset.
The ‘nerazzurra’ team had drawn 1-1 in the first leg in Turin. Their opponent in the final of the ‘Coppa’ will be known this Thursday, after the duel between Fiorentina and Cremonese, in which the team from Florence won the first leg by 2-0, as a visitor.
In the last Italian Cup final last year, Inter beat Juventus 4-2, and the Turinians were unable to take revenge on that game.
The Milan team’s advantage could have been greater before the break, but Argentine Lautaro Martínez failed to score on both occasions (21′ and 32′) and then, in a cross kick in the 38th minute, collided with goalkeeper Mattia Perin .
With Federico Chiesa and Ángel Di María in attack, but without the injured Dusan Vlahovic, ‘Juve’ didn’t have a great offensive footprint before the break and their only dangerous move was a Filip Kostic shot that André Onana deflected in the 34th minute.
Arkadiusz Milik’s entry into the field shortly after the break did not change the course of the game, in which Inter continued to dominate.
Inter’s thrilling end to the season
With the exception of a shot by Manuel Locatelli without much danger for Onana (50′), the ‘Vecchia Signora’ surrounded the Lombards’ area, but without finding spaces.
Defeated in the last three league games, Juventus seems to have only one means of saving the season: the Europa League, where it qualified for the semifinals and will face Sevilla. Winning this tournament will allow the ‘Bianconeri’ to avoid a new season without titles and also get a place in the next Champions League.
“We need to recharge our batteries. We’ve lost four of the last five games in Serie A and now we’re out of the Cup. We have to redouble our efforts”, warned the coach of the JuventusMassimiliano Allegri.
Inter could have increased the score in this game, which would have given them peace of mind, but they couldn’t and suffered until the end. In the 67th minute Lautaro missed another chance and in the 73rd minute Perin was flawless in a Henrikh Mkhitaryan try
For Inter, the end of the season is full of challenges. In Serie A, they are fighting to finish in the ‘Champions zone’ and, in addition to the Coppa Italia, they are still alive in the Champions League, where they will play an epic semi-final against neighboring Milan.
The semi-final first leg between Inter and Juventus was marred by racist chants against Romelu Lukaku in Turin. The Belgian player came into play on the return, but did not show much firepower. He will have to wait for the final on May 24th, in Rome, to shine in this competition.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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