The countdown to the new Serie A season has begun. Saturday 21 August, when Inter will take on Genoa at the San Siro, is on the horizon. Before that though, the squad needs to get fuel into their system, work on tactics and welcome back those players who have had busy summers with their respective national sides. In the friendly against Parma, Lautaro Martinez, Nicolò Barella and Alessandro Bastoni enjoyed their first pre-season outing for the Nerazzurri, starting a match that ended with a 2-0 victory and left coach Simone Inzaghi with plenty of food for thought. It was one-way traffic and Inter got the victory their quality performance deserved, thanks to second-half goals from Marcelo Brozovic and Matias Vecino.
The team started in a 3-5-2 formation that saw Bastoni join team-mates Stefan De Vrij and Milan Skriniar to reform that title-winning back three. Ivan Perisic and Matteo Darmian played wide of a midfield trio of Stefano Sensi, Nicolo Barella and Marcelo Brozovic. Meanwhile Martin Satriano partnered Lautaro Martinez in attack. Hakan Calhanoglu sat the match out as a precaution, having picked up a slight strain in the morning’s training session.
Inter were on it right from the start. On a beautiful summer's evening in Parma, the Nerazzurri wore their new away kit for the first time. The Nerazzurri stretched across the Tardini pitch and enveloped the Parma defence, who struggled to deal with runs infield from Perisic, the most lively player in the first half. Inter controlled proceedings, with Sensi and Perisic demonstrating a good understanding, and switched the play in a way that disoriented the home rear-guard. At the other end, meanwhile, the Nerazzurri defence barely gave their opponents a sniff.
Satriano and Lautaro made regular forward runs, battled with their backs to goal and made some good layoffs to their team-mates. Lautaro was one of several Inter players to see shots deflected out for a corner in the first period, as his effort was blocked with 38 minutes on the clock. Skriniar also had a great chance for the Nerazzurri but his header was saved excellently by Simone Colombi. Parma’s only real joy in the first period came through Dennis Man breaking down the right, but the Nerazzurri's consistency prevented any dangerous chances.
There was no change at the start of the second half, and no change in the direction of travel. Inter pushed hard and put Parma under constant pressure. The Nerazzurri had plenty of joy down the left and on 55 minutes it was almost the source of an opening goal, but Barella saw his effort canon off the post after a pinpoint cross from Perisic. It was only a matter of time before Inter would break the deadlock. Just four minutes later Lautaro latched onto Satriano’s flick-on before seeing his shot blocked. The ball came back to the Argentinian, who found Brozovic in space inside the box, and the Croatian finished confidently first time to give Inter the lead.
Inter were ahead and had no intention of slowing down. Just 10 minutes after the opener, substitute Federico Dimarco's cross from the left was headed in by Vecino, who had only been on the pitch for a few minutes. Satriano subsequently forced Colombi into a save and Lautaro continued to threaten.
Going the other way, Franco Vazquez's left-footed effort went just wide, almost pulling a goal back for Parma. Dimarco meanwhile made a crucial intervention in the final few minutes.
(Photo LaPresse)
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Source: legaseriea.it