Serie A 2018/19: Inter vs Napoli

Unfortunately, the talk after the top clash between Inter and Napoli has, again in Italy, sadly revolved around the racist chanting towards Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly. A supporter was also killed as fan groups clashed. It was a sad and unacceptable night for Italian football. Here, however, well focus on the football as Inter claimed a huge win for Luciano Spalletti. This tactical analysis will focus on Inters approach to the game.

Teams

Spalletti chose to continue with 4-3-3 and opted for Joao Mario and Borja Valero alongside Marcelo Brozovic in midfield. Carlo Ancelottis team was more surprising with Jose Callejon starting at right-back with Fabian Ruiz and Piotr Zielinski on the right and left of the four-man midfield.

Tactical analysis: How Inter wrestled control

As mentioned above Ill focus on Inters approach in this tactical analysis of the game. I will, however, quickly look at Napolis approach and how Inter went about trying to overcome them. So lets begin with the Partenopei.

Napolis pressing and attacking setup

Ancelotti wanted Napoli to press high early on and sent them out with an aggressive mindset. The 4-4-2 turned into a 4-3-1-2 when pressing as one of the central midfielders  usually Hamsik  would push on and man-mark Brozovic. We can see this setup in the image below with the front-two splitting against Inters center-backs while Hamsik (yellow) picks up Brozovic.

Below is an overview of Napolis pressing scheme. Again we see Hamsik mark Brozovic as the shape has turned into a 4-3-1-2. Each Napoli midfielder and forward is man-orientated towards a direct opponent. Due to Inters numerical advantage in midfield, however, it meant one Inter midfielder, Joao Mario (yellow) below, would always be free with plenty of space. Well see later on how Inter took advantage of this.

In possession, Ancelotti chose Zielinski and Ruiz as the wide midfielders in order to get inside and help dominate possession. What was most surprising about his team selection was the use of Callejon at right-back. Normally he plays as the right midfielder and provides width for the side. His new position meant Napoli got all their width from the full-backs while the wide midfielders picked up narrower positions. We can see this setup below with both full-backs (black) pushing forward down the wings while the midfielders (all white) are more narrow. Lorenzo Insigne (yellow) had a quite free role just off Milik.