The front page of the Milan Sport newspaper, with the theme of "0-0 to satisfy Inter", pointed out that as the point difference between the two Milan teams gradually widened, Inter Milan's confidence grew stronger, and AC Milan's confidence in the title was shaken.
After AC Milan lost 2-1 to Spezia in the last round, several players and coach Piolidu pointed out that AC Milan firmly believed in winning the championship.
The implication is: points behind don't get in the way, destroy Juve first, and then win the derby!
But after the battle with Juventus, The Milano Sport pointed out in a very poignant way: AC Milan looked like it lacked the confidence to win.
The commentary said: "AC Milan are well aware that they need a win to give them hope of overtaking Inter in the post-derby on February 6 – of course, the premise of the reversal is that Inter miss one game. But in the face of Juventus, which is currently in trouble, AC Milan may have reaped a plausible result, but it has not shown the confidence of victory and the consciousness they need most regardless of the cost. To achieve their championship goals, they should have had more courage. ”
After the draw with Juve, Pioli and some players changed their narratives, saying that AC Milan would try to extend the title race until the end of the season.
"Win the championship" and "fight for the championship" are one word difference, but the difference is very large.
Italian media stressed that with Inter's recent excellent form (9 wins and 1 draw in 10 rounds), with AC Milan constantly losing points (only 3 wins in the last 7 rounds), some young players in the Red and Black Army have begun to shake the confidence of catching up with the top of the list, so in the next intermission, the most important thing for the Rossoneri is not tactical preparation or drilling tricks, but to carry out the psychological construction of the team.
Inter's mentality is different.
At present, Inter are four points ahead of Milan and Napoli in the few matches, and the opponent of the few games is Bologna. If you win the make-up match, it is a 7-point difference.
In theory, in the next round of the derby, Inter can not be unbeaten is a great record, because in such a point difference, a draw means that the opponent misses the opportunity to chase points.
However, according to the team reporter Stopini, in the Inter team, Inzaghi Jr. talked to the players about the derby wartime words were "Voglio tutti più feroci" (I hope everyone is more ferocious), which shows that the Inter coach will not consider preparing for the derby with the goal of a draw, dreaming of winning 3 points and once again hitting the confidence and morale of the opponents who are competing for the title.
The Italian media regarded this as Inter's "general attack order".
Some people will wonder: the season is only in the middle of the range, and now thinking about "doing its best in one battle", will it be too urgent?
But the Inter coach believes that the greater the point advantage established at this time, the fewer variables will follow.
From the perspective of the general situation, in the process of winning the long-distance race, Inter has two major disadvantages over AC Milan.
First of all, the Rossoneri army did not have a European mission, but Inter still had.
The Nerazzurri opponent is Liverpool, and in terms of strength, Inter is likely to be a "round trip", but even so, the two battles with the Reds will still greatly restrain Inter's energy and state.
Inzaghi Jr. is well aware of the psychological state of the players. After winning the Serie A title, the players all wanted to use the bigger stage to enhance their prestige in the international arena. In particular, Perisic, Besino, Sanchez and other people have contract pressure, to consider the "reemployment" problem, playing well in the Champions League will help "money"; Lautaro, Barrera, Bastoni and other players are walking in the upward channel, and also hope to use the excellent play of the bigger scene to enhance the status of the jianghu.
Therefore, it is difficult for Inter to ask players not to be distracted and distracted in the league before and after the fierce battle against Liverpool.
The fierce battle at the Level of the Champions League is also likely to have excessive attrition and unexpected losses.
Even if it is only two knockout games, it may affect the stability of Inter's league record in the next few rounds.
In addition, the Rossoneri are overall younger (28 in the first team, with an average age of 26.5 years), while Inter are older (25 in the first team, with an average age of 29.2 years).
If a long season is a marathon run, then the later in the season, the more endurance and endurance are critical. Young people naturally have an advantage over older players in this regard, and looking at the recent state of Ibrahimovic, Zheko and others, the momentum is very obvious.
Based on these two considerations, the Inter coaching staff believes that it is very necessary to take advantage of the recent fluctuations in ac Milan's mentality to further widen the point difference, not only so that Inter can allocate more energy to deal with the cup, but also because if this goal cannot be achieved, if the derby is not good, Inter helps the Rossoneri to complete the psychological construction, and even let the opponents in the same city start, then Inter is creating trouble for themselves.
In summary, under the current league situation, Milan's two heroes are not only for points, strength and tactics, but also for psychology.
Although there are still two weeks to go before the derby, the "psychological war" between the two teams has already begun.