Serie A 2018/19: SPAL vs Inter

The performances of SPAL has been largely unnoticed outside of Italy in the last year or so despite an impressive debut campaign in Serie A last term. This weekend they hosted Inter in Ferrara in a tough away game for the Nerazzurri. Somehow, despite having to suffer for large parts of the game, Inter came away with a win. This tactical analysis looks at the tactical trends of the clash and why SPAL made it so difficult for Inter.

Teams

Both teams set up with expected teams. SPAL always line up in a 3-5-2 and head coach Leonardo Semplici continued with that shape against Inter. Alfred Gomis started in goal with Thiago Cionek, Johan Djourou and Felipe in the back-three. Manuel Lazzari and Mohamed Fares started as wing-backs. Pasquale Schiattarella acted as the defensive midfielder with Simone Missiroli and Mattia Valoti ahead of him. Up front, the duo was former Atalanta striker Andrea Petagna and Mirko Antenucci.

Inter were sent out in a 4-2-3-1 with Samir Handanovic in goal. The back-four was Sime Vrsaljko, Milan Skriniar, Miranda and Kwadwo Asamoah. Borja Valero and Matias Vecino sat in midfield behind Balde Keita, Radja Nainggolan and Ivan Perisic. The talisman Mauro Icardi started up front.

Tactical analysis: How did SPAL dominate the game?

SPAL were well on top for long spells and especially dominated the first half. Lets take a look at how they did it.

SPALs press

The biggest reason to how SPAL managed to disturb Inter was through their effective pressing. From their 5-3-2 base when defending they went high and man-marked Inter in their half. This often forced Inter into risky passes which were often intercepted in midfield. Below is an example of what it could look like. The two strikers and the three midfielders pushed high. As highlighted below, this opened huge spaces behind the midfielders but Inter could never exploit this.

Heres another example where SPAL pick up each player in Inters half.

By man-marking in this manner, SPAL removed Inters options to build attacks from the back. Handanovic would often look to find Nainggolan through SPALs press with flat balls along the ground. This rarely succeeded, however. In the below example, the pass is cut out and SPAL counter-attack.

When the ball entered the wide a