Tim Cooper Champions League preview: Inter Milan vs Arsenal
Here's Tim Cooper with his Inter Milan vs Arsenal preview as the Champions League clash at San Siro looms large
We’ll have revenge on our mind in the San Siro after Inter claimed an undeserved 1-0 victory against us last year with a dodgy penalty.
After soaking up some early pressure we dominated the game and should have had a penalty of our own when Inter’s Swiss keeper Yann Sommer punched Mikel Merino in the head (1,000 per cent a penalty” Mikel Arteta said at the time) while fisting a clearance.
The ref wasn’t interested but took no time at all to penalise Merino when an Inter header struck his arm at point-blank range in the box - clearly accidental - and Hakan Calhanoglu put the penalty away.
After that we had chances to win, with Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri all coming close, but came up short despite match stats of 20 shots to Inter’s seven (of which the pen was their only one on target), and 13 corners to none.
And of course Inter, having lost their Serie A title to Napoli by a single point, they beat Bayern and Barcelona in the quarter- and semi-finals to reach the Champions League final, where they were thrashed 5-0 by PSG.
Days later manager Simone Inzaghi suddenly left the club to join Saudi club Al-Hilal days, leading to bitter recriminations and allegations from fans and media that he had already had his head turned by the time the crucial end-of-season games came around.
The Nerazzuri responded by trying to lure Arsenal old boy / legend Cesc Fabregas from Como but he declined in favour of continuing his promising project there, and the Milan club instead appointed the Romanian international Christian Chivu, who won the treble with Inter as a player.
It was a surprise appointment but, as ever with former star players, a popular one. And it paid off immediately on the first day of the new Serie A season when a newly invigorated Inter thumped Torino 5-0.
Observers detected a change of style to a high press, with man-to-man marking at the back, after the more conservative (but effective) tactics of Inzaghi.
A squad that has barely been strengthened by a club restricted by FFP rules clearly enjoyed its new freedom and among the scorers was newly signed striker Bonny from Parma (a replacement for out-of-contract Arnautovic).
Despite being unable to substantially improve their squad due to FFP restrictions, Inter remain a powerful force, particularly in attack, where they are led by their captain, Argentina’s Lauro Martinez, and French striker Marcus Thuram.
Arsenal old boy Henrikh Mkhitaryan is likely to struggle for game time at the age of 36, but their midfield includes one of Italy’s top players, Nicolò Barella, and wing back Denzel Dumfries is a threat going forward.
Unusually for Inter, defence was far from their strongest point last season, conceding 44 goals (winners Napoli let in 32, Juve just 23 and Roma just 21), despite the presence of Italy centre backs Alessandro Bastoni and Francesco Acerbi, and fellow internationals Stefan De Vrij (Netherlands) and Benjamin
Trivia fact: Inter are the only Italian club never to have been relegated from Serie A since its inception in 1909; hence their fans’ nickname for the team of Il Club Dei Siempre - The Club Of The Always.
