Inter Milan Vs AS Roma [5–2] – Serie A 2025/2026: How Cristian Chivu Tactics Restored Attacking Cohesion At San Siro – Tactical Analysis

Inter Milan hosted AS Roma at the San Siro and successfully protected their Serie A lead following a difficult period.

Inter Milan exploited the international break in the best possible way as they have prepared some of their starting players who were absent for a long period and the goal was to make them ready for this decisive encounter.

Using the best starting XI was crucial, as it helped the team overcome weaknesses shown in previous fixtures and attack with greater chemistry and determination.

This helped them beat Roma 5-2 in a game that saw I Giallorossi suffer to defend well and resist against Inter Milan’s attacking attempts.

In fact, Roma’s failure in such big games can undo what has been achieved so far this season, as the five goals conceded might affect the team’s morale and, more importantly, their confidence.

In the long run, such losses might affect the team’s journey toward a European spot, specifically a top-four finish.

In this tactical analysis, we focus mainly on Inter Milan’s attacking performance and how they returned to their basic/landmark plans to break down Roma’s defence.

Inter Milan Vs Roma Lineups & Formations

Cristian Chivu lined his team up in their usual 3-5-2 formation, with Yann Sommer occupying his usual spot in goal behind the centre-backs Alessandro Bastoni, Manuel Akanji, and  Francesco Acerbi.

Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco started as the two wing-backs, while the midfield was made up of Nicolò Barella, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, and Piotr Zieliński.

And in attack, Lautaro Martínez and Marcus Thuram started as the two strikers.

On the other side, Gian Piero Gasperini started the match in his preferred 3-4-1-2 formation, with Mile Svilar in goal and a defensive line of three centre-backs: Gianluca Mancini on the right, Evan Ndicka in the centre, and Mario Hermoso on the left.

The midfield line featured Devyne Rensch and Zeki Çelik as left and right wing-backs, with Bryan Cristante and Niccolò Pisilli as central midfielders.

In attack, Gasperini used both Matías Soulé and Lorenzo Pellegrini as right- and left-sided wide playmakers, with Donyell Malen as the team’s striker.

Inter Milan Attacking Transitions & The Impact Of Lautaro Martínez Vs Roma Poor Defensive Performance

Inter Milan started the match in the best possible way.

He was capable of surprising Roma’s initial defensive organisation early on with a well-constructed attacking move that highlighted the crucial importance of having Martínez back in the starting XI.

The comeback of Martínez added instant threat inside the box thanks to the Argentinian’s exceptional movements without the ball and experienced dealing with the complicated finishing situations.

Lautaro Martínez: Crucial Comeback & Instant Finishing Addition

The action started with Inter Milan’s defence in possession, with Akanji providing a vertical through pass to Thuram, who was leaning towards the right wing to receive the pass away from the crowded penalty area and make himself available as a passing option.

Akanji’s pass was crucial in accelerating the attack and surprising Roma’s defence, as it was a line-breaking pass that passed through four Roma players to reach Thuram, breaking two lines of defence.

The key pass and the successful control and ball protection of the ball from Thuram against Ndicka, who is usually excellent in anticipating such actions and winning such duels, allowed Inter Milan to expose Roma’s defence and exclude their attacking and midfield players from the action, as Akanji’s surprising pass did not give time for Roma’s players to retreat in time.

Thuram was also effective at advancing with the ball and knew when and how to dribble past Ndicka smoothly before serving Martínez at the right time, highlighting once again the chemistry that has long been established between the two strikers and the importance of having both in form.

Furthermore, the movement without the ball from Martínez was crucial as he remained at the back of Çelik while waiting for Thuram to get past Ndicka and serve him.

As soon as he noticed that Thuram had seen him and was about to pass him, he quickly accelerated and positioned himself in front of Çelik, who was not attentive enough to the Argentinian’s movements.

Martínez’s well-timed acceleration to anticipate a potential Çelik clearance and be ready for a first-time finish was key to scoring, as it helped him surprise both Çelik and the goalkeeper and finish with power, intelligently orienting his shot as high as possible.

Hence, the goalkeeper had no chance to save it.

Inter Milan Attacking Chemistry & First-Time Passing Combinations

Pursuing the goal, Inter Milan played with even more confidence against Roma, who were still trying to adapt to Inter Milan’s powerful start to the match.

The opening minutes saw Inter Milan opt for some dangerous shots from distance, which could have led to goals, thanks to the shooting abilities of both Çalhanoğlu and Dimarco.

Inter Milan’s confidence and positive attitude following their goal led them to play with more ease in attack, as the players started playing with one or two touches at most to get away from Roma’s man-marking and attack the spaces left at the back of their defensive line.

In this regard, both Martínez and Dimarco were extremely valuable, as the understanding between the two led to breaking Roma’s defence with a first-time key pass from Dimarco and an intelligent, well-timed movement from Martínez to meet the ball at the right spot and anticipate his direct marker’s backward run.

Such actions made Inter Milan much more powerful and unpredictable in attack, as the return of the team’s best starting XI allowed them to play in a smooth yet very dangerous way that is very difficult to stop.

Roma Defenders-led Comeback

Roma tried to serve Malen with long vertical passes but failed, mainly due to Inter Milan’s attentive man-marking of Malen, as they were aware of his importance to Roma’s attacking plans.

Roma also relied on Pisilli’s penetrations from midfield towards the final third, but the man-marking applied to the latter did not allow him to continue those attempts successfully, despite receiving the ball back mainly through one-two combinations

Inter Milan’s intensive discipline and their continuous, well-timed marking of Roma’s attacking players helped them limit Roma’s attacking threats considerably.

Roma’s solutions to reach Inter Milan’s were found thanks to Malen’s efforts on both wings, as he moved a lot without the ball outside the box to receive passes with less marking, then carried it into the box or won fouls in key areas.

And from one of those set-pieces, he got very close to scoring, but his powerful header was saved miraculously by Inter Milan’s keeper.

Roma continued attacking with greater conviction throughout the last part of the first half, until they scored following a corner-kick that was well exploited.

Roma’s senders, and in particular Rensch and Mancini, were intelligent enough to exploit their advances, creating confusion within Inter Milan’s defence and turning the action into a successful attack.

They did so thanks to a one-two combination between Rensch and Soulé, which allowed Rensch to have the time and space to cross the ball towards the near post, where Mancini was reactive enough to read that potential cross and advance towards the centre of the box in almost the same way Martínez did to avoid Çelik’s marking.

Inter Milan Shooting From Distance Solution

Roma, however, failed to keep that draw going for long as they allowed Inter Milan to take the lead once again due to their poor marking of Çalhanoğlu in the final third, despite knowing that he is extremely dangerous from distance.

It was a crucial defensive error by Roma, as Çalhanoğlu should always have been prevented from shooting in this match, with one of the midfielders needing to block his shooting attempts or at least make the shooting trajectories very difficult to aim at.

Instead, Roma’s players were passive in this regard.

They allowed Çalhanoğlu the time and space needed to prepare for his shot and launch a very powerful knuckleball, as the ball changed trajectory in the air, making it nearly impossible for the goalkeeper to save.

Inter Milan: Back To The Basics & Reliance On Quick Attacking Transitions

Inter Milan soon made things much more complicated for Roma, adding a third goal mainly thanks to their team’s characteristics and their most important attacking trait: attacking transitions.

With Martínez’s comeback, these attacking transitions became extremely dangerous for opponents, mainly thanks to the latter’s crucial attacking positioning and off-the-ball movement in such situations.

The action was created after a Thuram won a duel against Rensch following a long pass from defence.

As Thuram progressed with the ball, Martínez exploited the space behind Daniele Ghilardi and attacked it with full speed to provide a perfect passing option for Thuram.

This movement was decisive in making the attack fruitful, as it allowed Martínez to receive the ball in a perfect position and finish with mastery, killing Roma’s hopes of a comeback.

Following that third goal, Inter Milan continued to dominate the game and prevent Roma from getting back as they added a fourth goal by exploiting a corner kick, with Thuram making use of Roma’s poor man-marking in that situation.

Soon after, Barella added the fifth goal following another Crucial defensive error from Roma, which favoured Barella, who was opportunistic enough to win the ball back amid the confusion within Roma’s defence and finish on goal after a failed interception attempt by Roma’s defenders.

The match exposed Roma’s worrying defensive errors, which are limiting their results and costing them points at a decisive stage of the season.

Conclusion

Inter Milan knew how to exploit Roma’s defensive errors to the fullest, benefiting from Martínez’s comeback, who made a statement in this match and once again confirmed that he is indispensable to this team.

Inter Milan showed the old successful version that had not appeared for a long time, and the fact that they played with their best starting XI helped confirm that the substitutes used in recent periods are not yet as good as these starters.

On the other hand, Roma should urgently fix their defensive issues to concede fewer goals per match in the coming period; otherwise, they risk losing all the positive performances and results they achieved from the beginning of the season till now.

With this loss, they put their UEFA Champions League qualification at risk.

They will have to win their upcoming games if they want to keep competing seriously for the top four spots, while hoping for negative results from the teams holding those spots.