03 March 2016
Last night’s 3-0 reverse marked the first match in this season’s Coppa Italia in which the Bianconeri failed to keep a clean sheet. Indeed, Juventus’ impeccable defensive record leading into the semi-final second leg had seen them give away just two shots on target in total to Torino, Lazio and Inter in the previous three cup outings this term. Two turned to eight by the end of the tie, as Roberto Mancini’s men grasped the nettle from the off and successfully pegged Juventus back on aggregate over 90 minutes.
That the Nerazzurri were capable of staging such a spirited comeback had a precedent from the competition’s quarter-final against Verona in 1984/85. That year they managed to overturn a 3-0 deficit from the first leg to eventually beat the Gialloblu 5-4 on aggregate after extra-time at the San Siro. Another statistic to have raised reason for caution last night was the fact that Inter had won 14 of their previous 16 domestic cup fixtures on home turf.
Turning attentions back to yesterday’s marathon tie in Milan, evidence of the hosts’ overall superiority is fully evident from the dropdown menus below:
Also playing a key role on the night were goalkeepers Neto and Juan Pablo Carrizo, who both made key saves from Ivan Perisic and Alvaro Morata respectively to prevent either side from grabbing near-certain winners before the shootout ensued.
Proof that the Bianconeri were not at the races until the 70th minute onwards, as Massimiliano Allegri stated in his post-match analysis, was that they failed to fashion a single shot in the opening half for the very first time this campaign in all competitions.
That Inter favoured a match primarily played down the flanks is backed up by the fact that they whipped in 32 crosses, in contrast to Juve’s seven, and focused 79 per cent of their attacks out wide (incidentally only 2.8 per cent more than the Bianconeri). Indeed, it was the wing wizardry of Eder and Perisic that gave rise to the hosts’ second and third goals respectively.
In terms of 50-50 battles and tackles, Allegri’s charges held their own over the course of more than 120 minutes, winning just 0.6 per cent fewer challenges, but ultimately it was the Nerazzurri’s sheer amount of shots (20 to Juve’s nine) that eventually made the difference. Interestingly, the visitors saw almost as much of the ball within the opposition box (21 times to Inter’s 24), but were unable to test Carrizo until the very death through Morata’s 120th minute double effort.
In terms of individual displays, Bianconeri team-highs were reached by Juan Cuadrado (five successful crosses and three goalscoring chances created), Simone Zaza (four shots and seven aerial duels won), Alex Sandro (88 touches, seven interceptions and four tackles), Leonardo Bonucci (seven clearances) and Mario Lemina (seven possessions regained – level with Alex Sandro).
