By David Rodich
Historically, Inter lose when they play Juventus in Turin, and Sunday was no exception. Despite playing refreshingly positive football under Leonardo as of late, they failed to muster the craft or guile to pierce the home side’s fortified defense. Still missing Lucio, Inter also looked soft in the center, and were lucky to have conceded only one goal.
From the opening minutes it was clear that Juve’s recently acquired Luka Toni and Alessandro Matri were going to wreak havoc on Inter’s back line. Thirty minutes in, this materialized into a goal as Matri headed in a Sorensen cross. It was also clear from early on that Juve’s defense would be difficult to penetrate, and their goal lead only encouraged them to reinforce.
It wasn’t until the last fifteen minutes of the match that Inter actually looked threatening. They finally had the momentum, and they would have equalized in the waning minutes if it weren’t for the usually sure-footed Eto’o. blanking an open six-yard shot into the crossbar. Their chances came, and in the end it was almost comical that they didn’t end up scoring. Unfortunately for Inter, they just seemed doomed from the opening whistle – playing obviously on Juve’s pitch – a place where they rarely find a win.
Leonardo had this to say, “In the second half we had a bit more life about us; it’s a shame that in the first half we didn’t get into the game right from the start as we should have and as we usually do. And, unfortunately, the goal never came.”
He continued, “To be honest I don’t think anything has been compromised. There are still a lot of games to be played; we have 14 to play, while the other teams have 13. Nothing has been compromised. My attitude hasn’t changed. If you look at the league table and the matches we have left I can’t think of this as ruining our chances.”
Maicon added, “If we single out Inter’s first half performance, I would say that Juventus deserved to win tonight, but in the second half we got back into the game and were the better side. There are matches where the ball goes into the net and others where it doesn’t. Let’s hope things go better on Wednesday.”
Inter are traveling to the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence Wednesday to play Fiorentina, who are coming off a win over Palermo.
