Sassuolo Vs Inter Milan [0–5] – Serie A 2025/2026: Missed Counters, Heavy Punishment – Tactical Analysis

Inter Milan travelled to Mapei Stadium to face Sassuolo in Gameweek 24 of Serie A and confirmed their lead in the league with a convincing 0-5 win, which puts more pressure on Milan, who are now eight points behind I Nerazzurri, with a game in hand for I Rossoneri.

Inter Milan passed the Sassuolo test despite numerous injuries in their squad, confirming that the team has become more mature and capable of beating any Serie A team and avoiding unexpected surprises from teams that often disrupt the bigger teams, such as Sassuolo.

Sassuolo did their best to surprise Inter Milan initially and throughout the first half, but failed to do so despite the spaces they found at the back of Inter Milan’s defensive line.

At the same time, they were not sufficiently defensive against a very powerful attacking team, which led to the concession of five goals and left them in 11th place with 29 points for now, 12 points away from potential European participation next season and 11 points away from the relegation zone.

Therefore, Sassuolo will need to avoid any drop in their level of performance in their upcoming games in order to avoid putting themselves in a dangerous zone at the end of the season.

In this tactical analysis, we examine how Sassuolo disrupted Inter Milan but failed to convert their counterattacks into goals, and how Inter Milan responded with well-executed set pieces and crosses.

Sassuolo Vs Inter Milan Lineups & Formations

Fabio Grosso relied on a 4-3-3 formation: Arijanet Muric as goalkeeper, Sebastian Walukiewicz as right-back, Jay Idzes and Tarik Muharemović as centre-backs, and Josh Doig as left-back.

The midfield comprised Nemanja Matić as a defensive midfielder and Kristian Thorstvedt and Ismaël Koné as central midfielders.

Upfront, the three attacking players were Domenico Berardi as a right winger, Armand Laurienté as a left winger, and Andrea Pinamonti as the team’s main striker.

On the other side, Cristian Chivu started the match using Inter Milan’s usual 3-5-2 formation with Yann Sommer in goal behind Yann Bisseck, Manuel Akanji, and Alessandro Bastoni as the three centre-backs.

Luis Henrique started the match at right wing-back, while Federico Dimarco played as a left wing-back.

Piotr Zieliński formed the midfield trio with Petar Sučić and Henrikh Mkhitaryan as the three central midfielders, with an attacking line made up of the duo: Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martínez.

Sassuolo Counterattacking Plan Vs Inter Milan Reliance On Set-Pieces & Sassuolo Marking Weaknesses

Sassuolo surprised Inter Milan with quick attacks, thanks to their speedy attacking players and, more importantly, their midfielders’ penetrations into the penalty area.

This was particularly useful for Sassuolo, especially during attacking transitions, as it enabled them to achieve numerical superiority in key situations.

The fact that Koné was faster than Inter Milan’s midfielders in their retreat to the box allowed him to use his explosiveness well enough to break Inter Milan’s defensive line as soon as he received the ball.

Koné’s action exposed Inter Milan’s passive reaction from the team’s midfielders during the defensive transition, something that helped Sassuolo progress quickly and find a passing possibility in the middle of the pitch, and not only on the wings.

Sassuolo Ismaël Koné Penetrations

It also counts in Koné’s favour that he did not hesitate to use not only his agility and dynamism but also his shooting ability, as he was about to score a magnificent goal with a powerful shot aimed at the opposite corner.

But Dimarco’s intervention and deviation from that shot were decisive and demonstrated the player’s defensive acumen as a wing-back.

The action also highlights the use of Koné as an advanced playmaker in the attacking phase to exploit the player’s athletic, dribbling, and shooting skills.

More importantly, deploying him in an advanced position disrupts Inter Milan’s defensive organisation, as it forces one defender to mark him rather than one of Inter Milan’s midfielders.

Occupying a defender would therefore liberate one of the three attacking players in this case, obliging Inter Milan to defend strictly with five players.

In case the wing-backs do not retreat in time, Inter Milan would suffer in defence due to Sassuolo’s attacking plan.

Sassuolo’s Dangerous But Unfinished Counterattacking Actions

Sassuolo quickly disrupted Inter Milan’s defence and put them in serious trouble, as they were extremely efficient and quashed the attacking transitions.

What helped Sassuolo launch quick and well-planned counterattacks was mainly Berardi’s exceptional ball protection and his ability to get away from double marking without losing the ball.

Succeeding in attracting defenders, then protecting the ball and passing it intelligently towards the other wing, helped Sassuolo progress quickly and gave Laurienté the chance to fix his direct marker and find the time needed to provide a key pass to his right.

The action also shows how Inter Milan’s defence was exposed as Sassuolo’s striker and right-back were completely unmarked when Laurienté was holding the ball, meaning that this could have been a goal action if finishing was good enough.

Everything was excellent from Sassuolo in this action, except the finishing, as Pinamonti failed to capitalise on a golden opportunity to score because he did not coordinate his body well enough to generate the necessary power.

This highlights the lack of finishing quality among Sassuolo’s strikers, as scoring this goal would have made the outcome of the match completely different, creating greater confusion within Inter Milan’s organisation and match plan.

Sassuolo remained dangerous throughout the match, thanks to their counterattacks and, in particular, Laurienté’s ability to beat his direct marker and create passing opportunities on the right wing.

Sassuolo were even able to score a goal thanks to this method, but it was preceded by an offside situation to their bad luck.

Inter Milan Reaction & Thuram’s Importance Inside The Box

After scoring their first goal of the match thanks to exploiting a corner kick executed by Dimarco and scored by Bisseck, the latter got very close to scoring his second goal of the match as his advancing towards the box was very useful as it confused Sassuolo’s marking system inside the box.

Inter Milan relied on their usual solutions: Dimarco’s key passes and crosses and the intelligent, unball-bearing movements of their strikers.

One of Dimarco’s crosses from the left wing was well-received by Thuram, who anticipated the crossing attempt and the defender who was marking him to put his body forward and finish with success.

Inter Milan Set-Piece Exploitation

Inter Milan added a third goal through intelligent execution of a throw-in and, more importantly, through Martínez’s movement with the ball, which confused his direct marker, who was already lost during the action.

Sassuolo’s defender became aware of the gravity of the situation only when he saw Martínez controlling the ball and was about to shoot, which was already too late.

Inter Milan became aware of Sassuolo’s marking issues and inability to defend effectively, especially during set pieces, and focused further on exploiting those set pieces with greater determination.

This led to a fourth goal, scored by Dimarco, following another accurate and dangerous cross.

This time, it was Akanji who escaped from marking and found himself completely unmarked, scoring a header without any disturbance.

Sassuolo will need to consider revising their approach to defending set-pieces, as they must be much more compact and disciplined in man-marking in such situations if they plan to earn points regularly over what remains of the season.

Facing teams like Inter Milan, who are extremely dangerous at set-pieces and who have powerful players in aerial duels and in crossing, requires much better defending, especially during such situations.

In this particular action, Matić followed Akanji from the outset.

His first mistake was that he did not mark him before the execution of the cross, and was surprised by Akanji’s run towards the box, and tried to follow him at that time.

His second crucial mistake was that he stopped following him as soon as the cross was launched, looking at the ball and leaving Akanji behind him.

Inter Milan proved in this match that they are becoming less dependent on their midfield stars, who were absent, but did not impact either the performance or the result of their team at the end of the day.

This means that Chivu has been successful so far in integrating the then-backup midfield players and making them highly reliable and central to his project.

This intelligent, smooth reliance on those players helped Inter Milan navigate the challenging moments when they faced numerous absences, especially in midfield.

The squad depth that Chivu helped consolidate by improving the performances of those players and elevating them to starting roles in many games has been saving Inter Milan from losing precious points in Serie A.

Furthermore, building on the previous manager’s ideas and tactics, while retaining what was already effective, has helped Chivu secure time and ensure good results so far.

In fact, this Inter Milan team appears very confident, and match after match demonstrates that it has gained significant experience and maturity this season, despite the fact that some players were new to the team; this is exceptional in Chivu’s management of the team.

A player like Henrique was hesitant and unconfident in attacking situations, as he lacked the initiative required to take shots and make key passes.

In this match, he scored a magnificent goal with a well-executed shot from distance that was difficult to save.

The work done with players like Henrique is evident on the pitch, as these newly integrated players this season are becoming increasingly useful.

Conclusion

Sassuolo started the match well enough to surprise Inter Milan’s defence with dangerous counterattacks, but failed to finish them effectively due to a lack of finishing quality among their striker and receivers of final passes in general.

Sassuolo will need to address their finishing issues to exploit their quick, smooth counterattacks further, while also focusing extensively on improving their marking, particularly during set-pieces, as this penalised them heavily in this match.

On the other hand, Inter Milan continues to lead the Serie A standings.

They consolidate their winning streak with a decisive victory and a solid performance ahead of a demanding period, starting with the Derby d’Italia against Juventus, before travelling to Norway during the week to play the UEFA Champions League knockout playoffs.