Inter Milan’s Arsenal Victory Resembled Times Past as Defensive Solidity Shines

At times it felt like a throwback: an Italian team defending resolutely with a 1-0 lead at home on a European night.

It could be argued whether Inter Milan’s slender 1-0 win against Arsenal at San Siro was merited, depending on how you look at it. Inter only attacked Arsenal in moments, with the Nerazzurri ending the game with just one shot on target in the 90 minutes, with a further four off.

Arsenal, by contrast, peppered Yann Sommer’s goal with crosses and had most of the possession, especially in the second half when Simone Inzaghi’s men dropped deeper into their own half. Yet in truth, the Switzerland goalkeeper wasn’t really tested that much on the night. Arsenal had four shots on target and six off. Despite one or two scary moments, it was a fairly comfortable night for Inter’s back three.

And that’s all the more remarkable considering Inzaghi rested four key players for the Arsenal game in view of Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash against Napoli. Federico Dimarco, Nicolo Barella, Marcus Thuram and Alessandro Bastoni were given the night off or asked to make cameo appearances at most.

It perhaps speaks volumes about the new iteration of the Champions League that Inzaghi felt he could rotate his squad for a big European night, without the pressure of knowing a defeat would be the end of the world given there’d be four further games to secure qualification. In years gone by a game against Arsenal would’ve been given the utmost priority, a strong lineup would’ve been a sure bet.

Or maybe Inzaghi trusts every member of his squad —as he claimed post-game — and is confident in taking out Barella for Piotr Zielinski, for example. Yann Bisseck is a case in point. The German defender has struggled at times since joining Inter from Danish side AGF, yet came into the starting XI for the Arsenal game and hardly put a foot wrong. In fact, Bisseck put his body on the line more than once, denying Kai Havertz what likely would’ve been an equaliser.

Inzaghi has tended to rotate for European nights. We’re now four games into the new format, and Inzaghi has only kept the same defensive lineup once, with Bisseck, Benjamin Pavard and Stefan De Vrij starting against Young Boys and Arsenal. 

And yet it’s worked. So good is Inzaghi as a coach, and how well-drilled his side are, that Inter and Atalanta remain the only two sides in the competition not to have conceded a goal in the opening four rounds, made all the more remarkable considering Inter have played Man City and Arsenal. 

However, Inter’s defensive solidity in Europe is at odds with their fragility domestically. Last season’s Scudetto win was built on a solid defence. As they swept to a 20th league title, Inzaghi’s side conceded a mere 22 goals from 38 games. This season that figure is already at 13 after just 11 games, with Sommer keeping just five clean sheets. 

Inter have been ultra-attacking this season in Serie A, but this has also left them surprisingly vulnerable in defence. No game encapsulates that more than the recent Derby d’Italia. A fixture that for so long had been won by the odd goal or two descended into a ludicrously entertaining gunslinging match. 

No one would’ve predicted a 4-4 thriller, with both clubs looking capable of scoring with every attack. The neutrals might’ve found it entertaining, but Inzaghi wasn’t one of them. “I’ve been involved in many games, but one like this has never happened to me,” he said. “You can concede four shots, but never four goals.”

Inter haven’t conceded in the league since, beating Empoli 3-0 and scraping past Venezia 1-0 at San Siro. If Inter are going to retain their title, something they haven’t done since the Jose Mourinho era, then they’ll need more Arsenal-esque performances in the league and less like the Derby d’Italia or the Derby della Madonnina, when they conceded a late goal to Matteo Gabbia from a set piece.

Their fluidity in attack can be a marvellous sight at times, especially when Dimarco bombs down the left-hand side as he does. Despite being a striker as a player, Inzaghi has inherited that classic Italian mentality of defensive solidity first and foremost, and their displays in Europe prove there’s more than one way to skin a cat. 

Now just to transfer European performances to Serie A, and with Napoli waiting on Sunday, Inzaghi will be buoyed by how good his defence was on Wednesday night.