Juventus are Inter Milan are still looking to find their right rhythm ahead of the scheduled Serie A opener this upcoming weekend as both teams failed to pick up victories in their latest friendly matches.
The Bianconeri failed to repeat their Trofeo TIM success as they were defeated by Ac Milan at Trofeo Berlusconi, while Inter scraped a draw against Olympiakos, who were playing with 10 men for the most of the match.
Juve Edged by Milan At San Siro
Attempting to repeat their victory against the Rossoneri few days ago, Juventus field in their supposedly best squad with Mirko Vucinic and Alessandro Matri leading the front line, while Andrea Pirlo orchestrating things in midfield. Milan, however fielded a much more experienced team compared to what they fielded on Trofeo TIM, but still missing host of important players due to injury and vacation.
Despite missing some important names, it was the Rossoneri who simply dominated the first half, bossing the possession and creating more chances which eventually ended up in goals from Kevin Prince Boateng and also Clarence Seedorf, early in the first period. The visitor did play much better in the second half, but only managed to get a goal back and even that Vucinic’s effort arrived when Milan were forced to temporarily played with 10 men because Alessandro Nesta was still receiving treatment off the pitch.
The defeat against pretty much not Milan’s strongest squad, sounds a bit alarming indeed for Antonio Conte’s team although their physical conditions looked sharped already as they lasted longer than the home team’s player. However, the unique 4-2-4 formation that Conte is trying to implement seems a bit difficult to execute at the moment especially when facing solid, quality and fit side like the Rossoneri in the first half.
Pazzini’s Brace Saves Inter’s Face
Meanwhile, the Nerazzurri also held their own friendly game as their last match training preparation before playing in the league and Greek outfit, Olympiakos are chosen as their rival. Gian Piero Gasperini’s uncertainties with his formation was pretty much the highlight of the friendly as Inter kept on changing around between 3-4-3 to 4-3-2-1 back and forth for the entire match.
The experiment might pretty much be the reason that makes Inter struggled a bit as although Olympiacos was forced to play with 10 men since the 27th minute, when Olof Mellberg picked up a red card. It was the Greek team that took the lead early in the second half as Feisa nodded in from a free kick and around 20 minutes after that opener, Olympiacos once again surprised the Italian giant as Modesto scored a daisy cutter after pouncing on Andrea Rannochia’s mistake at the back.
However, just as it was in some friendlies, Giampaolo Pazzini turned up as the team’s savior and saving the blushes for the Nerazzurri as the former Sampdoria man bagged a brace despite coming in only as a substitute in the second half. Pazzini scored his first goal after tapping in youngster, Faraoni’s nice through pass while the second one arrived in an acrobatic way just a minute before the final 90, saving them from potential humiliation from the press.
Match Reports:
Trofeo Berlusconi: Milan v Juventus 2-1
Goals: Kevin-Prince Boateng 9 (Milan), Clarence Seedorf 22 (Milan); Vucinic 57 (Juventus)
Milan: Abbiati; Abate (Oddo 89), Nesta (Rodrigo 57), Bonera, Taiwo (Zambrotta 48); Gattuso (K Boateng 66), Ambrosini, Seedorf (Antonini 85); Emanuelson, K-P Boateng (Flamini 30); Cassano
Juventus: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Barzagli, Chiellini, De Ceglie (Ziegler 85); Pirlo, Marchisio (Pazienza 73); Krasic (Quagliarella 85), Vucinic, Matri (Del Piero 43), Vidal (Pasquato 54)
Olympiacos 2-2 Inter
Goals: Feisa 47 (O), Modesto 68 (O), Pazzini 76, 89 (I)
Red Card: Mellberg 27 (O)
Olympiacos: Costanzo; Modesto, Papadopoulos (Papazoglu 56), Mellberg, Marcano; Feisa (Potouridis 76), Hurtado; Fuster (Maniatis 46), Yeste (Holebas 56), Fetfatzidis (Javito 56); Mirallas (Pantelic 63)
Inter: Julio Cesar; Zanetti, Samuel (Ranocchia 51), Chivu (Faraoni 74); Jonathan (Pandev 46), Thiago Motta, Cambiasso (Crisetig 91), Obi; Alvarez (Pazzini 46), Milito, Castaignos (Santon 64)
photo credit: _bianconero
