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Italy: Serie A Preview- Chievo v Inter Milan [Wed Sep 21st, 2005]
After easily defeating Lecce at home, Inter Milan face a much trickier test against Chievo away from home.
BACKGROUND
Some good news for Inter came last Sunday when AC Milan were defeated at Sampdoria, while Juve showed some signs of humanity when struggling against Ascoli at home. But when looking at the results that Inter’s next two opponents obtained, one realises this is a very tough couple of games for the Nerazzurri, where their potential will be tested to the fullest.
Chievo, who have as many points as Inter at the moment, obtained a 3-1 away win against an admittedly modest Reggina side, but it was Fiorentina, whom Inter face at home next weekend, who grabbed the headlines with a 4-2 win versus Udinese.
Getting the full six points will not be easy, but with Juve facing Udinese Wednesday as well, it might be an excellent opportunity to immediately cut the gap from the champions which is now at 3 points. Doing this would give some credibility to the claim already made by some “experts†in Italy that Inter will be the “anti-Juve†team this year instead of Milan.
However, to say that on the basis of Inter’s four official matches played this season (excluding UEFA Champions League preliminaries and Italian Supercup) would be quite premature, as they have won three against extremely modest sides (Treviso, Artmedia, Lecce) and lost the only one against a decent side (Palermo).
Winning against Chievo away from home would then be the first real achievement of this season. That may sound strange, but the fact is Inter have always struggled against the well-organised “Flying Donkeys†both at San Siro and at the Bentegodi stadium. In their first Serie A season, Chievo even beat Inter in Milan and held them to a draw at home.
Those dropped points ended up being decisive against Inter, as that was the infamous “5th May season†(2001-2002) where Inter lost the scudetto to Juventus on the last matchday. The following three seasons Inter beat Chievo only twice (losing once), once in Milan and once at the Bentegodi, and always by a narrow scoreline.
Chievo may no longer be the miracle team they were when they first came into the Serie A, a year in which they nearly qualified for Champions League football (narrowly losing the 4th spot to AC Milan – who won the trophy the following season), indeed since then each year they did slightly worse than before, but they have never really looked like getting relegated and are one of the most solid and difficult teams to face in Serie A.
Therefore Inter will surely have their work cut out for them in this match but, with all their players available, anything but a win would certainly be a disappointment and spark new debates among the ever-skeptical Italian media. Considering next Sunday already sees them face a predictably hellish Derby d’Italia in Turin, Inter need to get as many confidence boosts as they can get ahead of that showdown.
TEAM NEWS
Chievo
The Yellow Submarines don’t have any injury problems.
Inter
Kily Gonzalez and Mihajlovic are still off their best form, while Burdisso has finally returned from Argentina where he stayed a long while to help cure his daughter from leukemia (and fortunately succeeded), but hasn’t been called up yet.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Carvalho Amauri (Chievo)
An interesting creative striker from Brazil who doesn’t really score a lot of goals but always looks dangerous and can supply assists for the likes of Pellissier and Cossato.
Julio Ricardo Cruz (Inter)
Just like he proved in the second half of last season, he’s always likely to pop up with a goal when he’s played. He might not have the class of Adriano or the speed of Martins, he is still a reliable goalscorer in his own right and is actually top scorer of Inter’s season so far. To think he was close to being sold both last summer and the one before.
POSSIBLE STARTING XIs:
Chievo (4-4-2):
Fontana; Moro, Mandelli, Mantovani, Lanna; Semioli, Brighi, Giunti, Franceschini; Pellissier, Amauri.
Inter (4-4-2):
Julio Cesar; Cordoba, Samuel, Materazzi, Favalli; Figo, Cambiasso, Veron, Stankovic; Martins, Cruz.
Danilo Pochini
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