Inter Milan Vs Sassuolo [2-1] Serie A 2025/2026: Cristian Chivu Attack Overcomes Fabio Grosso Tactics – Tactical Analysis

Inter Milan faced Sassuolo for the fourth fixture of the new Serie A season, and the game ended with a 2-1 win for I Nerazzurri, though Sassuolo did not make life easy for Inter.

Inter Milan were compact and attentive enough to avoid a loss or a draw this time against I Neroverdi.

Although they conceded a goal, they were able to protect their lead during the final minutes of the match, securing a very important win that allows them to take a breather and work more calmly for the upcoming games.

Inter have not started the season well.

They failed to maintain a series of positive results; after convincingly winning their first match against Torino, they suffered losses against Udinese and Juventus.

These two losses were painful and have negatively impacted the atmosphere within the team.

Such losses early in the season can only create doubt and raise the level of tension for everyone.

With crucial wins against Ajax in the UEFA Champions League and Sassuolo in Serie A, Inter Milan started recovering from their negative period and are gaining more confidence, which will be much needed for their upcoming games.

On the other hand, Sassuolo did their best to trouble Inter Milan at San Siro and were very close to snatching a draw, had it not been for their inability to capitalise on the chances created, due to inaccurate finishing and a lack of chance creation in this match.

Despite that, Sassuolo were still able to score against Inter Milan and pose a threat whenever they reached the final third.

That said, they also suffered from their inability to resist or surpass Inter Milan’s first high pressing, which limited their playmaking process and prevented them from creating numerous chances, especially during the first half.

In this tactical analysis of the Serie A match between Inter Milan and Sassuolo, we will focus mainly on Inter Milan’s attacking ideas, reliance on transitions, and the impact of Carlos Augusto, Petar Sučić, and Francesco Pio Esposito, who were extremely useful during this match.

Inter Milan Vs Sassuolo Lineups

Cristian Chivu started the match according to the team’s usual 3-5-2 formation, but with unusual starting names like Esposito and Augusto, who were very important from both a defensive and an attacking perspective in the spot of Alessandro Bastoni.

Chivu also preferred to start with a different goalkeeper, opting for Josep Martínez instead of Yann Sommer.

He relied on Francesco Acerbi, Manuel Akanji, and Augusto in defence.

The midfield was made up of Federico Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries as wing-backs, Hakan Çalhanoğlu as a regista or a defensive midfielder, with Nicolò Barella and Sučić playing as central midfielders and helping a lot during the attacking transitions, as they were the ones who led those transitions and accompanied the ball progression until reaching the box.

The attacking duo was also new compared to the start of the season, as Chivu experimented with the Esposito and Marcus Thuram duo for the first time as starters in the game against Ajax, confirming it against Sassuolo.

In both games, Inter Milan succeeded in winning, thanks not only to the players but also to the whole team’s performance.

Indeed, this duo had a significant impact and contributed to the team’s attacking capabilities, which we will explore in detail in this analysis.

For Sassuolo, Fabio Grosso used the 4-3-3 formation: Arijanet Muric as goalkeeper, Woyo Coulibaly as right-back, Jay Idzes and Tarik Muharemović as centre-backs, and Josh Doig as left-back.

The midfield was made up of Nemanja Matić, Aster Vranckx, and Ismaël Koné.

At the same time, 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.

Inter Milan Dangerous Attacking Transitions

Inter Milan were immediately capable of disturbing Sassuolo thanks to their nearly automatic attacking transitions system, which relies on very quick yet accurate passing, ball protection, and fast movements without the ball from specific players.

Çalhanoğlu was the one who had to initiate the transition with the first pass, then one of Sučić or Barella were capable of protecting the ball before passing it to each other or to one of the wing-backs who had to accelerate and provide passing options on the wings.

Inter Milan had even added more alternatives to their transitions.

At times, they opt for direct passes to Thuram or Esposito, and one of the two protects the ball with his back to the goal and provides a through pass to one of the wing-backs or turns and accelerates by himself, creating an even more straightforward counterattack and eventually a more dangerous attacking action.

These ideas were evident on the pitch as Chivu succeeded in preserving the strengths that Simone Inzaghi had built into this team while also trying to improve the weaknesses and make the defensive phase even more powerful.

Inter Milan Carlos Augusto Attacking Addition

Adding Augusto added more dynamism to Inter Milan’s defensive line and was useful not just in the defensive phase but also in the attacking phase, since Augusto did not fear making quick penetrations with the ball and surprised many with his exceptional ball progression and dribbling skills.

At the sixth minute, he executed a very dangerous penetration to the box that could have led to Inter Milan’s first goal of the match, thanks to his dribbles past three Sassuolo players before finishing with accuracy.

The goalkeeper prevented Augusto from scoring a beautiful goal at the start of the match.

Inter Milan High Defensive Line

However, this action confirms that Chivu encourages defenders’ penetrations.

He also instructs them to play with a very high defensive line to make the lines closer to each other, thereby making it complicated for the opponents to build from the back or build after surpassing the first line of high pressing.

The following picture shows that even during the final minutes of the match, Inter Milan continued to rely on a high defensive line, despite the risks of conceding goals, which helped them recover the ball quickly and initiate effective transitions.

That said, this defensive tactic is certainly not risk-free, as Inter Milan conceded a few dangerous counterattacks and could have been punished if they were playing against a team with clearer attacking ideas and more dangerous attacking players.

Inter Milan Pio Esposito Attacking Addition

Esposito’s performance was remarkable in this match.

He was able to perform the tasks required of Lautaro Martínez with greater ease, accuracy, and determination, relying on his physical strength and quick acceleration, knowing that he was superior to Martínez in this regard.

That’s why Esposito will create a lot of doubt within Chivu’s starting lineup ideas, as he is actually proving that he can be equal to or better than Martínez alongside Thuram.

It is true that Martínez has more experience and tactical maturity; yet, Esposito has shown against Ajax and Sassuolo that he can be even more reliable than Martínez, especially if he guarantees consistency and succeeds in scoring the chances he will get in future games.

Esposito was crucial in creating Inter Milan’s first goal.

He retreated to the middle of the pitch to receive Akanji’s pass while knowing that it was tightly marked.

Despite that, he was intelligent enough to protect the ball and resist the disturbance of his direct marker and that of the other opponent who tried to intercept the ball.

This means that Esposito did the “dirty work” of giving the ball to Barella while eliminating three opponents, which ensured numerical superiority for Inter Milan later in the action.

Inter Milan Petar Sučić Technical Touch

The goal action highlighted another important aspect that requires attention: following the excellent ball protection from Esposito and Barell, his ball progression, and his on-and-through pass to Sučić.

The latter has shown several remarkable traits, which encourage Chivu to use him as a regular starter if he maintains his playmaking and attacking support.

Sučić handled the through pass he received from Barella with a lot of maturity and calmness, which confused Sassuolo’s defence.

He received the ball in a key area, fixed his direct opponent, and pretended to be planning to shoot, clearing the way for Dimarco, who was coming from behind.

With a technical touch, he provided Dimarco with a perfect short pass assist.

The Efficient Pio Esposito-Marcus Thuram Duo

It should also be noted that having both Thuram and Esposito as stationary strikers helped, as Inter Milan players did not have difficulty finding forward passing destinations since both Thuram and Esposito continuously blocked defenders and played with their backs against the goal to guarantee passing options.

It is also true that Thuram missed a few chances after doing the complicated work of receiving the ball and turning/shooting.

The same applies to Esposito, who did not hesitate to block defenders, receive passes, and turn despite the disturbance of two and sometimes three players, and still was able to shoot on goal.

Despite not scoring, he showed some very positive signs about his ability to be dangerous throughout the game, thanks to his physical strength, agility, and goal-scoring instinct.

Inter Milan Pio Esposito Acrobatic Attempt

Esposito was close to scoring on numerous other occasions, even attempting an acrobatic move between two players, which highlighted his powerful ability to resist disturbance and still execute the necessary shots while ignoring the marking.

Furthermore, the fact that both players succeeded in executing effective passing combinations with movements without the ball, which highlights their understanding, suggests that this duo has many chances to succeed and should be trusted during the upcoming games.

Conclusion

Inter Milan won the match despite the final struggles due to Sassuolo’s continuous attacks and the Nerazzurri’s inability to limit those actions.

This is an aspect that Inter Milan needs to work on to avoid such potential bad scenarios, especially in the final minutes.

Attacking-wise, there were many positives to build on from this game, and these mainly include Esposito’s excellent performance and his successful duo with Thuram, Augusto’s remarkable attacking addition and ability in terms of penetrations and goalscoring, and Sučić’s reliable technical touch inside the final third and his key role in attacking transitions.