Inter drew 1-1 with Ac Milan.
After losing to Real Madrid, Pin Atalanta, Lazio and Juventus, Inter faced a strong opponent for the fifth time this season and missed the victory for the fifth time.
After the game, Bastoni said: "When you can't win a game, it's better to get a draw than to lose." When the players have tried their best to say things about "not being able to win the game" as a premise, this reveals the situation of Inter today: but anyone who moves the mind to rush the ceiling will encounter strong resistance that is difficult for existing soldiers to overcome.
In this battle alone, Lautaro missed a penalty and missed a sports opportunity, which is very eye-catching.
If you look at the overall performance of the season so far, the reason why Inter's five fierce opponents are not victorious is: the period of physical strength in high-intensity competitions, and the period of physical weakness, there is a gap between the level of playing.
All five games have a similar bridge: in inter's physically abundant stage, the team created scoring opportunities, but did not grasp it. During the period of physical decline, several core backbones were exhausted, inter completely lost the momentum, or held the advantage but was reversed by the flat, or was surrounded by the opponent to give the referee the opportunity to play, so the non-flat and negative.
After several matches, Inzaghi Jr. was criticizing the attacking line for missing opportunities.
Of course, this is part of the problem, but it can't be solved by existing soldiers, and Inter can't expect Lautaro to suddenly evolve into Milito, and then again, 24-year-old Milito and 30-year-old Milito are not the same thing. When there are physical problems, the team's combat effectiveness has dropped several notches, which is a big problem for Inter today.
In this battle, Barrera and Zheko were injured successively, grinning in pain, but the manager was not moved.
It was not until the two were really unable to insist and took the initiative to gesture for a replacement that Inter replaced the two.
Actual combat proves that there is a reason why Inzaghi Jr. did not dare to change these two people: these two people were injured and retired, which really caused Inter's combat strength to decline by several notches.
Injuries, seemingly unexpected, are actually inevitable.
Overwork becomes a disease. The two were too tired.
This tiredness is reflected in three aspects. The first is that there is a lot of playing time, both of them are 12 rounds of league games, 4 Champions League games, and the national team is also rotating. In addition, the game task is heavy, Barrera must not only fight but also advance, pass the fatal ball, Dzeko has to grab the point to shoot, but also have to do fulcrum and retreat, the load is too heavy.
Most importantly: no one can share their psychological pressure and shoulders of responsibility.
Dzeko is Inter's current top scorer and Barrera is the assists king. Others may be able to act as auxiliaries, but it is difficult to be a stable "standing fire point" to carry the team forward. This makes both thighs more tired, both physically and psychologically.
Now Inter can only hope that the injuries of the two will allow them to escape this wave of national team recruitment, and they can recover from injuries and return to blood. Otherwise, if it is absent for a long time, it will cause more damage to Inter.
This battle ac Milan playing style is clear and fighting.
The starter reused Kronec to kill Brozovic and let Díaz change the position.
The effect was obvious, and the role of Ronaldo was lost, with only 2 "recuperi" (regaining the ball) in the whole game, only 1/5 of Casey and only 1/6 of Char Khan Oulu.
In the second half, ac Milan replaced Rebic, Benazel and others, under the premise of Inter's lack of support, trying to use physical strength and fighting advantages to harvest the game, but also made Inter completely lose the possibility of winning.
After the game, Italian TV guests (such as Belgomi and Signori) praised Pioli as a clever move.
Because of his approach, two major advantages of ac Milan are magnified: one, the age advantage. In the intensive format, stamina recovers more quickly. Second, the advantage of points. Milan are 7 points ahead and don't have to win. A draw can give Inter the psychological hint of "missing the opportunity to chase points" and "can't stop Milan's momentum".
More importantly, it shows that Pioli is not only focused on the immediate gains and losses, but also on the long-term interests. Forcing Inter's two core injuries and consolidating their points advantage, it seems to be a draw, and Milan is the winner strategically.
Inzaghi Jr. was very upset after the game, disappointed with the result, and obviously he also knew that Inter had paid a terrible price but only scored 1 point, strategically a loser.
In fact, Little Inzaghi is not willing to accept a draw.
So the last substitution, Inter replaced Chinstone with Di Marco, with the aim of strengthening the attack and trying to score three points. But it was this substitution that led to inter's last-minute danger, and if it were not for the door frame rescue, it could have been killed miserably.
The reason is simple.
Inter, whose starting average age is 29.3 years old, is simply unable to support such a high-intensity 90-minute war of attrition in the 7th game of 21 days and 7 matches. The physical crisis erupted in the final moments, and after Barrera was injured, inter midfielders were completely at a disadvantage.
Although Char Khan Oulu and others have been recuperating for a week, this kind of high-intensity competition is only 70 minutes of physical strength.
So Inter can only rely on Bastoni to top the midfield, barely supporting. After the substitution, Inter's last bit of reliance was completely lost, so the situation was out of control and the danger continued.
This is a signal: if Inter can accept a draw, they can still cope with it; if they are unwilling to score three points, they will face resistance from Shanda.
This is also a true portrayal of Inter's situation this season: pragmatics believe that the team is enough to keep the lower limit, which is quite satisfactory for the results and combat strength. Ambitious people are not convinced, believing that Inter is still a champion and that not being at the top of the list is a crime, so they are bitter and depressed, and they are resentful.
In a word: this season Inter's ability is absolutely worth this, to rush the ceiling requires magic, this road is doomed to be bumpy, thorny.