The Milan derby of the cup is about to begin.
The importance of this battle is self-evident, as the Milano Sport newspaper summed up: "For the trophy, for dignity, for psychological superiority ... More importantly, whoever eliminates the opponent can add a lot of weight to the league championship."
Before the vicious battle, the media was most concerned about what kind of striker combination Inter would send, what offensive routine to choose, and what scoring means to plan. But pre-match information shows that the Inter coaching staff is most worried about a disadvantage - the rules of away goals, so this Mi will choose a more conservative and stable strategy: the strategic focus is not on the attack, but on how to deploy.
"Milan Sport" pointed out: Whether it is a league championship or a cup PK, Inter's disadvantage over AC Milan is that it is a small score.
According to league rules, if two teams have the same number of points at the end of the season, the results of the two-legged match are compared first.
Milan have won 1 and drawn 1 against Inter this season, so if both teams score the same point at the end of the season, the Rossoneri will be ranked higher. So now Inter (one less game) is not 2 points behind Milan, but can be seen as 2.5 points.
If the total score of the two legs of the cup this season is large, when counting the small points, it is calculated that the away goal is calculated.
Although both legs were played at the Meazza Stadium, the first leg was theoretically inter away. The two teams drew 0-0 and Inter failed to score. This means that as long as AC Milan gets a draw with a score in the second leg, inter will be eliminated.
To put it more intuitively: if AC Milan scored first in this game, then Inter would have to score 2+ goals to avoid being eliminated. It will be difficult because AC Milan have kept clean sheets in their last seven games (6 league games and 1 cup) and are in excellent form.
Before the game, the Milan Sports Newspaper introduced the respective concerns of Inzaghi Jr. and Pioli.
Pioli is worried about the next schedule, the Rossoneri derby will also play Lazio, Atalanta and other teams, and some players in the team are not in good physical condition (such as Ibrahimovic, Calabria, etc.), which makes the Milan boss very headache.
What Inzaghi Jr. is worried about is this away scoring rule.
In the two Milan derbys this season, the Rossoneri have chosen the "backhand" strategy: inter score first in both matches, and the rossoneres have attacked from behind, or equalised, or won the reverse.
The reason for this phenomenon is two points: First, Inter has many veterans, and their physical fitness and battery life are more than one notch worse than that of the young AC Milan.
Another reason is also Pioli's tactical choice, he usually chooses to start conservatively, specifically, in the two derbys, the Rossoneri starters are to choose a running player (Klunic, Casey) to make a cameo appearance, not hesitate to weaken the attack, but also to fight, consume Brozovic, and destroy Inter's offensive organization. After Inter's physical fitness declined, the Red and Black Army changed its moves to a more attacking midfielder, and tried and tested.
But will it be the same this time?
If the Rossoneri are uncharacteristic, they will come up and grab the start and attack an away goal first?
This is something that the Inter coaching staff is worried about.
Due to the rules of away goals, once the Rossoneri have a fantastic start, Inter must score at least two goals to avoid exit, and will be very passive, the commanding heights of initiative and promotion will belong to AC Milan.
Such concerns could affect Inter's game strategy.
In the Milan derby in early February, Inter led 1-0 in the first half and created scoring opportunities many times, but it was only because of the heroism of the opposing goalkeeper that they failed to extend the scoreline.
At halftime, Inter were faced with a choice: should they "keep their one-goal advantage and stick to the counterattack" in the second half, or "continue to strengthen their attack and score the second goal as soon as possible"?
Inzaghi Jr. chose the second strategy.
In the second half of that derby, Inter invested too many players in attack and defense did not invest enough - Giroud was able to score two goals in a short period of time, one reason was that Inter clearly led 1-0, but like 0-1 behind, they were too aggressive or even aggressive, failing to put up a fence.
For this reason, Inzaghi Jr. has encountered a lot of criticism, and Inter's sluggish state in the next two months has been affected by the defeat in the derby. Where does this start? Perhaps, it was the strategic choice that began with that derby.
Inter remembers the lessons of the past. Similar mistakes, the Nerazzurri did not want to make another mistake.
Therefore, when we embark on the Derby battlefield again, Inter may lower its posture, be more conservative and more pragmatic.
Before the game, Inter star Bergomi also pointed out when he was a guest on the sky platform that he paid more attention to the state of Inter defenders, such as Bastoni, than discussing Lautaro, Correa and other players.
In summary, the contest has no name. In the face of a vicious battle, Inter can not only focus on whether the attack is smooth, but also depends on whether the defense can be solid.