a big problem from the national teams in view of the derby – Libero Quotidiano

2023-09-14 19:38:00

Claudio Savelli 14 September 2023

The national teams did not return injured players to Inzaghi and Pioli, at most bruised or tired. It’s good news for Intere Milan, excellent for Saturday’s show. The upcoming derby (the Milanese Sozza has been designated as referee) will in fact be of the highest level, the highest for a decade now: Inter and Milan have never faced each other as top of the table at the same time, for two years they have not challenged each other with a similar thirst for the championship and, in any case, two seasons ago they were not so aware of their strength. It would have been a shame to see the best players excluded, now that the world is refocusing its eyes on Milan as one of the capitals of football.

Inter had more, around the world. 17 out of 25. Appiano has only eight left, including two goalkeepers, Audero and Di Gennaro, and six players: Bisseck, Mkhitaryan, Sensi, Carlos Augusto, Acerbi (injured) and Klaassen (back in condition). It’s impossible to organize a practice match even by joining Milan, if it’s true that the Rossoneri welcomed 15 of them.

AGONY
Captain Calabria stopped at Milanello, still excluded from the national team despite the change of coach, Florenzi, Pobega, Adli, Romero, Kalulu, Pellegrino, Loftus Cheek, the reserve goalkeepers Sportiello and Mirante and the almost out of the squad Caldara. Due to the longer squad, Pioli was able to work with more players, of which three (Calabria, Kalulu given the disqualification of Tomori, Loftus-Cheek) probable starters for the derby, while Inzaghi of the ideal eleven had only the Mkhitaryan, another reason to think that Frattesi, despite the great performance against Ukraine, will start from the bench again.
The returns in this round were not dramatic because most of the national teams played on Tuesday, and thank goodness: once upon a time the agony was prolonged until Wednesday, something very unwelcome by the clubs. For example, Inter welcomed Asllani back on Monday, on Tuesday the Dutch Dumfries (in top form) and De Vrij returned, as well as Agoumé, while yesterday it was the turn of the rest of the Europeans, from Sommer to Calhanoglu, through for the Austrian Arnautovic (a brace for him), for the French Pavard and Thuram up to the Italians Barella, Bastoni, Darmian and Dimarco, who were facilitated by having played in Milan. The same goes for Milan. The difference, as usual, is made by the South Americans.

OLD TIMES
Inter have three, fewer than in the old days of Argentine colonies: Lautaro, Cuadrado and Sanchez are expected today. Under what conditions? Fair: the Nerazzurri captain only played a few minutes in Bolivia, Cuadrado was rested due to inflammation but seems to be able to recover, Sanchez took to the pitch despite the rumors about anemia. Who returns after the South Americans? The Americans. It went badly for Milan with Pulisic and Musah who were involved tonight for the match against Oman, a day later than all the others: they will arrive tonight, so they will only train tomorrow. For the rest, Milan also already welcomed everyone back yesterday, many of whom were not very involved: Reijnders (70′), Giroud (26′ due to an ankle problem, already back), Chukwueze (17′), Okafor (15′) and Jovic (4′) just made a trip. Yes, because you have to weigh the commitment, as well as the return dates. And it’s more or less similar: Bastoni (180′), Dumfries (175′), Barella (174′), Dimarco (140′), Asllani (139′), Calhanoglu (135′) and Arnautovic (117′) are all over one hundred minutes on the pitch, as in Milan Maignan, Theo, Krunic and Musah played two full matches, Leao 137′, Pulisic 135′ and Kjaer 100′. The reported physical problems seem to have disappeared, someone even played with them. The fatigue remains to be weighed, both for the matches and for the intercontinental flights, but the worst is averted. The derby has to be done, at full capacity.