The quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia took us to the San Siro where a formidable Inter side took on Fiorentina. Nothing could split the two teams when they met back in December in the league, where the game ended in a 1-1 draw. On the night it was Antonio Contes side who prevailed, with a 2-1 victory that takes them into the next round where Napoli await.
In this tactical analysis, we take a look at the tactics used by Inter to break down a tough Fiorentina shape. We also provide an analysis of the tactics used by Fiorentina in their attempts to reach the Semi-Finals of the Coppa Italia.
Line-ups
Conte lined his side up in their preferred 3-5-2 system, a shape theyve used 71% of the time this season. Newbie Ashely Young continued as a wing-back with Antonio Candreva operating on the opposite flank. The midfield trio was made up of a double pivot, with Nicolò Barella and Matías Vecino dropping deeper to collect the ball in possessional cycles. Alexis Sánchez took up a more advanced position in the number 10 role. His duty was to occupy the Fiorentina defensive midfielder and use clever movement to open direct passing lanes into the front men, which we look at later. Romelu Lukaku and Lauturo Martínez started as the centre-forwards. The pair looked to rotate between running in behind and dropping deep to collect the ball in an attempt to stretch the opponents.
Fiorentina, knowing exactly how Inter would play, matched their opponents shape in a 3-5-2. The only difference between the two systems was Milan Badelj played deeper in the midfield trio to reduce space for Sánchez to operate. Martín Cáceres, Federico Ceccherini and Nikola Milenković made up the centre-back trio. They looked to play longs balls in behind Inters advancing defensive line to utilise the pace of Frederico Chiesa and Dušan Vlahović who started as the centre-forwards. This, however, didnt go to plan as the away side struggled to create chances.
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