Starting Lineups:
Internazionale:
2 - Iván Córdoba
6 - Lucio
23 - Marco Materazzi
26 - Cristian Chivu
5 - Javier Zanetti (C)
4 - Dejan Stanković
20 - Joel Obi
10 - Wesley Sneijder
9 - Samuel Eto'o
22 - Eto'o Milito
Due to injuries to Júlio César, Maicon, Walter Samuel, Thiago Motta and Esteban Cambiasso, Rafael Benítez had no choice but to field a weak side, with players like Joel Obi being pushed into the senior side. Iván Córdoba was picked in front of Davide Santon, meaning there was no attacking presence down the right flank. Benítez decided to play a 4-3-1-2 formation, with Wesley Sneijder in the 'hole' instead of the regular 4-2-3-1 formation Inter have been using for the last couple of years.
AC Milan:
20 - Ignazio Abate
13 - Alessandro Nesta
33 - Thiago Silva
19 - Gianluca Zambrotta
8 - Gennaro 'Rino' Gattuso
23 - Massimo Ambrosini (C)
16 - Mathieu Flamini
10 - Clarence Seedorf
70 - Robinho
11 - Zlatan Ibrahimović
Massimiliano Allegri left out Ronaldinho in his team and decided not to risk Andrea Pirlo's fitness, so he instead played with three 'workers' in midfield, in Gattuso, Ambrosini and Flamini. The main width from the team came from Ignazio Abate and Gianluca Zambrotta running from defence, while sometimes Clarence Seedorf moved to the left flank to get possession of the ball.
Early Minutes and Milan Goal:
Milan were by far the more dominant from the whistle, with Zlatan Ibrahimović most influential in the game. Milan tried to play long through balls from midfield for Robinho and Ibrahimović to run on to, and it was through that tactic that Milan won a penalty. Ibrahimović ran on from a long ball from midfield and when he arrived in the penalty area, he pulled the ball back but was tripped by Materazzi's trailing leg. Ibrahimović confidently dispatched the penalty, firing it to Castellazzi's left. From then on Inter failed to get into the game to give enough support to Milito and Eto'o. Furthermore, Inter had no width in their play, with two fairly defence-minded full-backs (Córdoba and Chivu) and with no winger in their team. To fill in those spaces out wide, Eto'o pulled to the left, but that left Milito alone up-front and he was surrounded by Milan defenders. Ibrahimović meanwhile was having a great game, joining play by dropping deep when Milan were in possession, in essence providing an extra midfielder for the side. However, when Milan weren't in possession, he would stay on the offside line (which Inter were implementing horribly, especially as Materazzi was never quick as a young player, let alone as a 37 year old) to receive through balls. Milan would then put balls over the top of the defence for the two front men to make something out of.
Half Time Changes:
Before half-time, Benítez put on Philippe Coutinho on for the injured Obi. Goran Pandev came on for the ineffective Milito at the break and in the 68th minute Jonathan Biabiny replaced the injured Marco Materazzi. Zanetti was brought to right back with Córdoba as a centre back, while Coutinho played in the middle with Stanković behind the trio of Biabiny, Sneijder and Pandev. Eto'o played as the lone front man. These changes enabled Benitez to play a 4-2-3-1, which is what the Inter players are used to and also allowed more width in their play with the introduction of two wingers. Inter took to the game and were helped by a controversial incident in the 60th minute. After a foul, Abate hurried to get the ball from Pandev's grasp. This angered the Macedonian, who pushed Abate to the floor, who immediately got up and subsequently pushed Pandev back. Pandev was given a yellow-card while Abate was sent off and the former was very lucky to stay on the pitch as there was no difference in the offence committed between the two. Despite the one-man advantage, Milan defended solidly and hung on to the precious three points to stay clear at the top of the table.
Statistics:
Inter Milan
57% Possession 43%
10 Shots 6
3 Shots on Target 1
4 Corners 4
12 Fouls 17
1 Yellow Cards 4
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