At 2:45 AM on August 31, one of the highlights of the third round of the 2024/25 Serie A season will see Inter Milan host Atalanta. Inter Milan are the defending champions of Serie A, while Atalanta are the Europa League winners from last season. However, both teams have encountered some difficulties at the start of the new season.
Firstly, Inter Milan drew their opening game 2-2 with Genoa, turning a planned three points into just one. More infuriatingly, they conceded two goals in their first match, paying the price for their negligence and lethargy. In their second match back at home, Inter beat Lecce 2-0. The scoreline does not tell the whole story of what happened on the pitch; Inter even looked somewhat flustered during this match. Lecce’s counterattacks were lethal, with 10 shots, four on target, comparable to Inter’s performance. Sommer made four saves. After a summer of restructuring, Lecce is no pushover, almost stripping Inter of its glory. After these two matches, Inter must re-evaluate their understanding of the new season; they may find it difficult to dominate as they did last season. The colored glasses can only blur their judgment; steady progress and solid groundwork are the pragmatic way forward.
Next, Atalanta started the season with a convincing 4-0 victory over Lecce, leading people to believe that Atalanta was still the team that swept through Europe last season, making Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen bow down, perhaps even stronger than last year. This speculation was quickly debunked in the second round when Atalanta lost 1-2 to Torino. Retygi’s goal maintained this illusion, but five minutes later, Ilic equalized, and soon after the break, Adams put Torino ahead. Then came the familiar rhythm of Torino, using their tenacious defense to withstand Atalanta’s stormy attacks. Pasalic missed a penalty in the dying moments, leaving Atalanta to swallow a defeat. Furthermore, the team has just transferred their midfield maestro, Koopmeinas, to Juventus, and the Dutchman’s absence will visibly impact the team, particularly his contributions to the attack, likely causing pain for Atalanta for a period.
Inter Milan’s moves in the summer window were not frequent, as the team’s existing lineup from last season could already handle multi-front battles confidently. To avoid extreme scenarios, however, the club signed Iranian striker Taremi from Porto and also brought in Zielinski from Napoli on a free transfer, slightly enhancing their overall strength compared to last season. Due to Scamacca’s injury, Atalanta quickly reached an agreement with Genoa, bringing in Retygi swiftly. However, the most critical move for them was securing the buyout of midfield maestro De Ketelaere from AC Milan.
Statistics show that the two teams have met 140 times, with Inter Milan winning 77, drawing 36, and losing 27, holding a clear advantage. Moreover, in the last 12 encounters, Inter Milan remained unbeaten, even achieving five consecutive victories against Atalanta recently. If we only consider matches played at Inter’s home ground, the advantage is even more pronounced. Another figure reflects Inter Milan’s dominance over other Serie A teams when playing at home: in the past 12 seasons, no Serie A team has managed to breach Inter’s home fortress. Last season, Inter even humiliated Atalanta with a 4-0 scoreline.
However, for this match, Inter captain Lautaro may still be unable to play, as the latest reports indicate that the Argentine’s muscle injury has not effectively improved, and Inzaghi might continue to rest Lautaro. Affected by this, Taremi, who provided an assist in the last game, may continue to partner with Thuram upfront. Atalanta’s personnel situation is more complicated, affected by injuries and transfer rumors, with Scamacca, Scalvini, and Lookman excluded from the squad. However, new signing Retygi is in hot form, scoring three goals in two games, alleviating Gasperini’s anxiety about the team’s offensive capabilities significantly.
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