Juventus 2 – Inter Milan 1: initial reaction and random observations

Inter Milan may have thrown the first punch on Tuesday night, but it was Juventus who ended up getting off the mat and doing enough to win the fight.

Thanks to two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo in the first half and a good old comedy from Inter on defense, Juventus managed to recover after losing a goal and holding on after the break to guarantee a 2-1 victory in the first leg of Coppa Italia semifinal in San Siro. Although it may seem that history may be repeating itself 2 ¹⁄_two weeks after Juventus was strangled by Inter at the same stadium, Andrea Pirlo’s team was able to do exactly what it did in the January 17 defeat to Inter – hit the boat.

Call it a microcosm of how the team has recovered in the past few weeks since losing to Inter in Milan, but the fact that they had an immediate response in this game was the biggest thing they needed to do to ensure that they lead back to Turin for the second leg with some away goals and an advantage on the scoreboard.

Just look at Juve’s immediate response to being left behind.

There was no oscillation, no type of fall. Instead, Juventus moved forward, winning a penalty 15 minutes after falling behind. (Of course, there needed to be VAR to cancel the initial call, but those who saw it realized that it was simply a formality based on replays.) Thanks to pressure from Ronaldo and the lack of communication from Inter, Juve took the lead, not long after they had tied. (This ends with the post’s kiss – beautiful.)

That’s the kind of response you want to see whenever your team is left behind.

And Juventus did just that when they needed it most and managed to turn the score in their favor well before the break.

Let’s face it, this game was open – especially in the second half – and it could easily have scored a few more goals at least. But, as we’ve seen from Juventus in recent weeks, just because things are a little confusing and may not be entirely routine, it doesn’t always mean disgrace in front of them. They obviously weren’t in complete control like the games in the past two weeks, but what could have been much worse turned out to be just moments when our hearts fell in our stomachs.

This game was everywhere. The second half was especially complicated, and as it proved to be more than 45 minutes without a goal it is completely beyond me with how many chances were created.

But fortunately, Juventus did not do what it did against Inter 2 ¹⁄_two weeks ago. So Juve’s chances of reaching the Italian Cup final again this season are much greater now, with a home game waiting for them in the second leg. Away goals also help.

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS

• Federico Bernardeschi’s cross over the move that resulted in a Juventus penalty kick … yes, it wasn’t very good. Fortunately, there is no business like in the NFL, when the ball cannot be reached. Juan Cuadrado could have made a sort of vertical jump from the Guinness World Record and would not have come close to that intersection.
• I spoke on the most recent podcast about how Juve has improved in preventing dangers in opponents’ counterattacks. I’m so sorry. Juventus did very poorly in defending the counterattack that led to Inter’s opening goal. This was almost the opposite of what you want them to do defensively. It wasn’t just a guy – it was a handful of things that went wrong.
• Furthermore, Gigi Buffon has to do better with this photo. He’s better than that, no matter how old he is today.
• Buffon knows better than anyone that one of the greatest keys of a goalkeeper is having a short memory. And after that flub he had in the first half, he goes out and makes a great defense against Matteo Darmian at point-blank range.
• Seriously, look at this penalty from Ronaldo. You want something that is completely unstoppable for a goalkeeper, here it is. It is a shot that still goes up when it reaches the bottom of the net.

Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP via Getty Images

• What I’m trying to show with this photo is Samir Handanovic – who had a very difficult first half! – had absolutely no chance of stopping this, even though he took the honorary dive to his right. Better luck next time, buddy.
• I would also like them to have a photo at our disposal behind Ronaldo when he was about to make contact with the ball in his second goal. His momentum is taking him towards the goal line and he had to hit it in the right way to make sure he didn’t bend the ball too much. He did everything he needed to give Juve the lead in that.
• You want to make your money count with a yellow card, the defense that Matthijs de Ligt had against Nico Barella was the best possible. That’s what happens when a player running at full speed collides with a guy built like a wall.
• Here is your reminder that Barella is only 23 and is getting better. Inter have a jewel in their hands with this kid.
• Some of Rodrigo Bentancur’s twists in that game … come on, son.
• Merih Demiral was one of the culprits in Inter’s opening goal, but this release of the goal line could be the difference between Juventus making it to the Coppa Italia final or seeing their race end in the semifinals. Just a great instinctive move to get there, since everything was going to hell right in front of him.
• Subscribers of Juventus who left the bench in the second half: Danilo, Alvaro Morata, Arthur, Giorgio Chiellini and Federico Chiesa. Man, it sure is fun when almost everyone is healthy on this team. (We miss you, Paulo, come back soon.)
• Chiellini was basically going from person to person after the final whistle giving hugs. When you get a big win over your archrivals, you practically deserve it from the captain.
• Good win. Even with all the roller coaster moments in the second half, I will take it.