Today’s ‘Derby della Italia’ will go down in history as the third in Serie A to bring in over 6,000,000 euros in ticket sales and will be broadcast live in 182 countries; virtually the entire planet will be synchronized with San Siro at 22:45 Nairobi time. Inter has a chance to strengthen their title bid with a win here, and Juventus can completely open the race for the championship title in which AC Milan can still have their say. Inter coach Simone Inzaghi, in a way, is living a replay of his debut year on the Inter bench. Two years ago, almost on the same day, his Inter had a four-point advantage and a game less than Milan. The city derby was played on February 5, 2022; Inter led 1:0, controlled the match and then chaos happened, and they lost the game 2-1. The negative experience with Milan two years ago could be of great benefit to Inzaghi and his men, especially since many of them were at the San Siro that evening and experienced the disappointment that turned into the Bologna debacle when they definitively lost the championship, which they had in their pockets. Max Allegri’s Juventus sees analogies with the past in the present. 13 years ago, the reformed Juventus with Antonio Conte started in the championship without ambitions to win the Scudetto and with the idea of returning to the Champions League after a disastrous season in which they did not qualify for any European competition. Allegri, like Conte in the past, made the most of the opportunity to train the team throughout the week and get the most out of the fact that Juve is not competing in cup competitions. The other similarity with Juventus from the past, who started the longest dominance in the history of Serie A (nine consecutive titles), is a large number of good but not excellent players. Another similarity is the steel defence called BBBC (Buffon, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini), which today consists of Szczesny, Gatti, Bremer and Danilo.The Nerazzurri have only three victories in their last 22 meetings vs Juventus in Serie A (W3, D7, L12). Inter 1-2 Juventus 🔴Inter 1-1 Juventus 🟠Juventus 3-1 Inter🔴Juventus 1-1 Inter 🟠Inter 1-2 Juventus 🔴Inter 0-0 Juventus 🟠Juventus 2-0 Inter 🔴Inter 2-1 Juventus…— F.C. InterData (@Fcinterdata) February 4, 2024 Juventus and Inter have not fought fiercely for the Scudetto many times in history. As luck would have it, in periods when one club dominated, the other went through a worse period. It should also be noted that Allegri has a slight advantage in direct matches with Inzaghi since both are sitting on the bench of Juve and Inter. Namely, the head of the professional staff of the Milan club recorded only one victory, while Allegri won twice, and twice the matches ended in a draw. A characteristic of all matches is a very small number of goals, never more than two. Juventus main striker Dušan Vlahović is in great form but must resolve the taboo that has followed him since he came to Italy: the goal at San Siro. This stadium is the only important one in which Vlahović did not hit the net in Serie A, despite the fact that he entered the history not only of Fiorentina but also of Juventus as the second player, after Dybala, who scored ten or more goals two seasons in a row with less than 24 years of age. It’s in the blood! There are 15 footballers’ sons playing in the Serie A this seasonLautaro Martinez is the top scorer in the Italian championship, but Dusan Vlahovic is the top scorer in Serie A in 2024. In the current year, the Serbian ace scored as many as six goals in four games, and he is most deserving of the fact that the Italian championship was not decided already in February, as was the case last year. At the beginning of February last year, Napoli had 56 points and as many as 13 points ahead of the second-placed team, Inter has only two points less, but Juve is one point behind them (true with a game more), while Milan is five points and two games more. Inzaghi is also praised for succeeding where his more famous predecessors did not: Inter plays beautiful, likeable, and efficient football. There have been many stronger Inter squads than the current one, but few Inter have played as good football as today and that is a great credit to Inzaghi. Even Luciano Spalletti, who managed to stamp his mark of recognizable play everywhere, did not make a name for himself at Inter. Of course, Inzaghi’s great advantage is that he has behind him the best sports manager in Italy, Beppe Marotta. There is no doubt that Marotta worked a miracle by constructing Inter with literally no money. All the players at the disposal of the Milan club, except for Lautaro Martinez and Niccolò Barella, were brought either for free or through self-financing, without the help of the Chinese owners who last allocated money when Hakimi was bought in the spring of 2020.Market madness! Record $9.63 billion spent on 2023 transfersJuventus spent a lot more money than Inter to build the existing squad; Vlahovic, Chiesa, Locatelli, and Bremer alone cost 200,000,000 euros. However, Juve expertly invested in youngsters, especially in the second team, the so-called. The U23 produced gems like Yildiz. Allegri also has his merits; he patiently built a serious team despite great criticism and the hostile attitude of some of the Bianconeri’s entourage. Of course, luck is also needed, the combination of circumstances and the coincidence of the stars. If it were up to Allegri, Vlahović would not be at Juve today, but Romelu Lukaku, if it were up to Allegri, McKenna would not be in Turin just like Kostic. All of them stayed in Continasa by chance, but Allegri showed that he is an excellent expert because he was not a slave to prejudices.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 23FridayLecce – Fiorentina 3-2 (1-0)/Oudin 17, Piccoli 90, Dorgu 90+2 – Mandragora 50, Beltran 67/SaturdayEmpoli – Genoa 0-0Udinese- Monza 0-0Frosinone – AC Milan 2-3 (1-1)/Soule 24, Mazzitelli 65 – Giroud 17, Gabbia 72, Jovic 81/Bologna – Sassuolo 4-2 (1-2/Viti (og) 24, Fabian 73, Ferguson 83, Saelemaekers 86 – Thorsverdt 13, Volpato 34/Sunday14:30: (1.50) Torino (4.00) Salernitana (7.25)17:00: (1.45) Napoli (4.40) Verona (7.50)20:00: (2.15) Atalanta (3.45) Lazio (3.70)22:45: (1.95) Inter (3.50) Juventus (4.40)Monday22:45: (1.48) Roma (4.20) Cagliari (7.25)***odds are subject to change***
