MILAN ( Associated Press) – For Inter Milan, Wednesday’s Italian Cup final could be the first of two trophies.
Inter plays Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and then has two league matches in Serie A, where it is locked in an interesting title fight with city rivals AC Milan.
Two points behind defending champions Inter Milan, which have a better one-on-one record in the league – the first tiebreaker in Serie A.
There was excitement in the Nerazzurri camp when they beat Milan 3-0 last month to reach the Italian Cup final. Inter were still behind in the league but had a game in hand and had been pointing to their postponed match in Bologna for months as an opportunity to gain ground in the title race.
The match was lost 2-1.
The panic has started since then and this can be clearly seen in the first 25 minutes of Inter’s match against Empoli, where coach Simone Inzaghi also said that his players were feeling the pressure as they won 4-2. Scored two goals before achieving.
With this in mind, Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta wants the team to keep title ideas in mind and focus on Wednesday’s final.
“It is normal that they are even thinking about the title. This week we are playing for two important goals that represent well above a season dedicated to sacrifice by the whole club,” he said. Would like to pick up but it’s also important to know that on Wednesday we can achieve our first goal, so we’re focused on that.
“From Thursday, we will see what we can do. Zero distraction. It’s great to have this kind of pressure for gamers, to have two important goals at once. ,
For Juventus, the Italian Cup final is arguably even more important. Massimiliano Allegri returned to the club last year after a season of disappointment under Andrea Pirlo, which saw his run of nine straight league titles ended by Inter – though it won the Italian Cup.
But Juventus are again set to finish fourth in Serie A – and one point less than last season – while it was again knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16. The team also lost to Inter in the Italian Super Cup.
Juventus will win hearts with their positive record in the Italian Cup. Bianconeri have won the trophy a record 20 times, including five of the last seven.
Both the teams are looking towards their star forwards.
Inter’s Lautaro Martínez went through a somewhat dry spell in early 2022 but has now scored 11 goals in his last 11 appearances to take his tally for the season to 23 – a new personal record for the Argentine international.
Martinez’s international team-mates – and potentially at club level next season as well – will carry forward Juve’s attack. Paulo Dybala put on an impressive performance in Genoa on Friday and scored what appeared to be his side on their way to victory, before scoring two late goals in a 2-1 loss to Juventus.
After seven years at the club, Dybala is certain to leave Juventus at the end of the season, with Inter as a possible destination.
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