GdS: ‘Milan in paradise’ – how Conceicao ‘got everything right’ to beat Inter and reach final | OneFootball

AC Milan booked their place in the Coppa Italia final in an emphatic manner last night, beating city rivals 3-0 to secure a 4-1 aggregate win.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, it’s as if Sergio Conceiçao ‘had a craving for a cigar that he couldn’t contain’. His Milan overwhelmed Inter to get to the final, and now he is one game away from having two trophies in a few months.

As in the Riyadh derby, which yielded the Supercoppa Italiana, the Portuguese coach ‘got everything right’. It started with the rather surprise choice of putting Luka Jovic up front who played an imperious match, well beyond the brace he scored.

Spending more than €30m on Santiago Gimenez and then discovering that the most in-form man was sat on the bench before is something that points to just how strange Milan’s 2024-25 campaign has been, especially the derby.

The Rossoneri were eliminated from the Champions League in the play-off round, and 20 points from the top of the league, outside the European places. A club called Milan cannot consider a season like that a positive one.

But, if nothing else, the Coppa Italia can guarantee them the Europa League and they already have the certainty of playing in the next Supercoppa. Above all though it shows there is a lot of quality in the squad, capable of not just beating the table-toppers but doing so easily.

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Achilles’ heel

Inter have not won a derby out of five this season. Milan have been the worm in their apple: they denied them two trophies and took away four points in the league that will weigh heavily in the end.

In all five derbies of 2024-25, the Nerazzurri have never shown their best version, starting with their competitive nastiness, which in a derby is a must. Psychoanalysis-worthy. Even yesterday there were incomprehensibly careless errors on goals.

They were not even a shadow of the experienced and ruthless team from Munich. The symbol was Lautaro’s shot with the outside of his foot: at the Allianz Arena it ended up in the top corner, last night in the stands.

It was known that tiredness could sooner or later bite Inter, engaged on three fronts. It happened after the feat with Bayern. And now the nightmare that everything could vanish like after midnight in Cinderella. From the dream of the Treble to empty hands.

Lautaro, Barella, Dimarco, Mkhitaryan and many leaders yesterday appeared unrecognisable, empty. The necessary rotation did not pay off: Taremi and Asllani were disastrous. After the defeat in Bologna, Inter – tired and disheartened by the derby – will have to face Rome on Sunday.

Then they fly to Barcelona, who are running at full speed to keep the Champions League dream alive. It won’t be easy, but Inzaghi has the moral and technical reserves at home for a happy ending.

The missing piece

Calhanoglu was Inter’s problem in the first half, or rather his absence. The Turk also drops between the centre-backs to set up the game, but then goes up and joins Barella in the build-up and uses his creative vision.

The Albanian, on the other hand, remains constantly stuck behind, alongside De Vrij and Inter lacked their usual second playmaker. Barella was untidy which is unlike him, Taremi was once again disconnected, so the absence was too big to fill.

Yet, the Nerazzurri played better in the first half and had more chances, perhaps because Milan decided to try contain and depend on the counter-attack. The 3-4-3 is only a starting point. In reality Pulisic and Leao, the wingers of the trident, always tighten up to leave the wings to Jimenez and Theo.

Reijnders had the task of being found between the lines to set up the counter. But there is a glaring flaw in the Rossoneri formation: Pulisic put pressure on Bastoni, Jimenez on Mkhitaryan and wide on the left Dimarco had absurd freedom. He hit the crossbar and forced a save from Maignan.

Luka takes command

Before Dimarco hit the bar, a wide diagonal shot from Darmian was their best chamnce. After the crossbar, the best chance was Lautaro who tried to replicate his Bayern goal, but sent it over. Three chances against zero, suggesting Inter had the game firmly in hand.

And instead, Milan took the lead. Jovic dropped deep and then got into the box to meet the cross from Jimenez, served out wide after excellent work by Reijnders between the lines. Bastoni and Darmian were lacking in that instance.

Then, Barella and De Vrij were culpable in the fourth minute of the second half on the corner with which Jovic doubled his tally. Simone Inzaghi’s hysterical reaction was four changes in one go: Zalewski, Frattesi, Calhanoglu and Arnautovic on.

By then Milan had the game where they wanted it, able to sit in and counter fast. It was this way that Reijnders scored the 3-0 goal in the 90th minute and others could have been scored because Inter had collapsed, physically, in morale, in everything.

Now they will have to perform the miracle of getting back up, because the two big targets – the Scudetto and the Champions League – are still in play. Milan, who have lost them some time ago, suddenly find themselves happy. Football remains unfathomable, and therefore wonderful.