Serie A derby sure to be a thriller

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This article was published 04/10/2019 (2510 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As derbies d’Italia go, Sunday’s is the most highly anticipated in quite some time. Not that the twice-per-season Serie A encounters between Juventus and Inter Milan are ever diminutive affairs.

The cliché prescribes that when such rivals go head-to-head, the form book goes out the window. But it just so happens that the upcoming match in Milan (1:45 p.m., DAZN) will have a lot to do with this term’s Scudetto. And that hasn’t been the case since November 2008, when the country’s biggest clubs squared off at San Siro with just three points between them.

The extra buzz around the latest instalment of the Derby d’Italia is largely down to Inter Milan. With a 100 per cent record through six rounds, the Nerazurri currently top the standings and have two points more than Juventus, who conceded the advantage with a scoreless draw at Fiorentina on match day three. Manager Antonio Conte, who guided Juve to a trio of titles while with the Bianconeri from 2011-2014, is now in charge of Inter, and while his presence in the opposite dugout was always going to be a talking point ahead of kick-off it is now even more so, as his magic touch has clearly accompanied him from Piedmont to Lombardy.

Since being installed in the job at the end of May, Conte has endeavoured to do nothing less than overhaul his new club’s playing personnel, style and culture. Few managers have accomplished so much in so little time. There are new players in each segment of the park, combining extraordinary individual abilities with their manager’s intensity to make a cohesive, irresistible whole. Conte, ever the micromanager, has also gone so far as to order the change of the club’s anthem from “Pazza Inter Amala” to “C’e Solo L’Inter,” a hymn he believes embodies the strength of the team he puts out on the pitch.

Still, it’s his new signings that best represent this Inter project.

Diego Godin, acquired on a free transfer from Atletico Madrid, has quickly acclimatized to a back three that has conceded just twice in the league. Romelu Lukaku, bought for €65 million from Manchester United, has tallied three times already, and, with a pace more suited to Serie A, serves as the target for what might be the best midfield in Europe at the moment. With Marcelo Brozovic delivering long passes, Nicolo Barella providing defensive cover and Stefano Sensi exercising his creative muscles, the three exemplify what Conte is trying to achieve—an amalgamation of unique abilities united into an effective unit. Barella and Sensi are on loan from Cagliari and Sassuolo, respectively, with options to buy.

Juventus, despite having won each of the last eight Scudetti, have also undergone some recent changes.

Incoming manager Mauricio Sarri, the former Napoli boss who won the Europa League with Chelsea last term, is trying to implement his expansive brand of “Sarri-ball” while dealing with extremely high-profile players and a squad that is rather too inflated. It’s a juggling act he’s so far handled without a ball dropped.

Naturally, his most important job is to keep Cristiano Ronaldo happy and amongst the goals — so far so good on that score — but maintaining some semblance of balance in a group with far too many players for each position is a close second. Sarri came under some early pressure on that front when he was forced to omit Emre Can from his Champions League registrations, but in recent weeks a handful of injuries have eased his task.

It’s no secret the club would still prefer to sell Can, as well as defender Daniele Rugani and attackers Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic, among other players. They need to lower their wage bill, and Sarri’s preference is to work with a consistent, limited core of contributors. Newcomers such as Merih Demiral and Adrien Rabiot have been used sparsely, although Aaron Ramsey seems to have inserted himself into Sarri’s plans. He’ll likely start against Inter, operating just behind Ronaldo and one of Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain.

For now, there is peace at the Italian champions — something the club seemed keen to highlight with an open training session at their J-Village complex on Thursday. But a derby defeat would leave them five points adrift of their rivals going into the international break, and in such a scenario all bets would be off. There is considerably more pressure on Juve than Inter ahead of Sunday, and they know it.

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During the week Juventus filed yet another appeal to have the 2006 title, which was stripped from them and awarded to Inter because of the Calciopoli scandal, returned to Turin. As if this rivalry needed any more spice. The Derby d’Italia has rarely been more hotly anticipated, more eagerly awaited. The Scudetto could well turn on it.

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