Serie A Women 2021/2022 : How Inter were able to exploit Milan’s tactical mistakes to win in the derby – tactical analysis

Inter Women won their first-ever derby by beating Milan Women 0-3 in a match that witnessed a worrying performance from the Rossonere who are now getting more distant from the second spot. Continuing with such performances would mean that Milan will say goodbye to UEFA Women’s Champions League qualification since there is fierce competition on that spot from Sassuolo, Inter and Roma who are all showing that they are worth participating in the best women’s European competition.

Milan will be playing against top of the Serie A Women standings, Juventus, in a match that will be crucial for determining whether Milan will still be able to fight for the to UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifying spot or not. A loss in that match would make things a lot more complicated for Milan as it will also pave the way for Sassuolo, Inter and Roma to gain advantage over one of their rivals in this regard.

On the other hand, Inter will host Sassuolo in another direct confrontation that would also be decisive in terms of standings. Inter will have a psychological advantage over Sassuolo since they won the derby convincingly while Sassuolo have just lost 0-2 against Juventus during the previous fixture.

In this tactical analysis article, the focus will be mainly on pointing out Milan’s defensive and attacking weaknesses while also shedding some light on Inter’s exploitation of the situation and usage of the adequate tactics to beat their opponent.

Line-ups

Milan Women started the match according to the 3-5-2 formation with Laura Giuliani as a goalkeeper, Guðný Árnadóttir, Laura Agard and Laura Fusetti in defence, Sara Thrige and Valentina Bergamaschi as wingers, Refiloe Jane, Greta Adami and Christy Grimshaw as central midfielders with both Valentina Giacinti and Lindsey Thomas as strikers.

On the other side, Inter Women used the 4-3-3 formation with Francesca Durante in goal, Anja Sønstevold, Kathellen Sousa, Lisa Alborghetti and Beatrice Merlo in defence, Henrietta Csiszár as a defensive midfielder just in front of the defensive line, Ghoutia Karchouni and Marta Pandini as central midfielders while both Gloria Marinelli and Tatiana Bonetti played on the wings to support the team’s striker, Ajara Nchout.

Milan’s performance and errors

Milan started the match relying mainly on the right-wing and especially the accelerations of Grimshaw who attempted to serve Giacinti and Thomas several times but without success either due to offside positioning or too tight marking from Inter’s defenders. At the same time, the team committed an awful marking mistake that cost the team a first Inter goal following a corner-kick that was well-executed. But what was unacceptable from Milan’s defence was leaving a player alone near the far post while standing in the middle and having four players who are not marking any Inter player. This defensive mistake led to conceding a first goal that made things complicated for Milan especially from a psychological aspect.