From our correspondent Luca Bianchin
January 2, 2025 (changed at 9.59pm) – RIAD
Dum Dum, they call it. And Denzel Dumfries executes: he scores two goals and sends Inter to the final of the Italian Super Cup, to tell Arabia that Atalanta may be good but the strongest Nerazzurri live in Milan. Dumfries brings the bicycle for the first goal: it is overturned in the area. For the second, he borrows a cannon: a great shot from far away that touches the crossbar and goes in. In front of 16 thousand spectators, not many, Inter-Atalanta ends 2-0 and in 90 minutes all Inter are there. Inzaghi handled the ball, rotated with his planned changes and hurt in his own way. The first goal comes from a corner, the second from a counterattack. And again: Lautaro creating chances with his back to goal, Barella decisive, the fifths dangerous. Lots of opportunities, with only one negative note: Lautaro, still a prisoner of his curse, now goes from wrong goal to wrong goal. Impressive.
inzaghi-gasp 2-0
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Simone Inzaghi deserves two separate lines because on Monday he will play for history. If he also won the final, he would reach 7 trophies with Inter, the first ever together with the Wizard Herrera (who however won two Champions League…) and Mancini (four championships). And he would rise to six Super Cups, increasingly becoming the prince of the strange cup. Gasperini, on the other hand, made the formation strange. Out were De Ketelaere, Lookman and Ederson, all put on the pitch together after 55 minutes. His Atalanta held out for a while, but once again suffered against Inter, the team that suffers the most in the world. Gasp played with Samardzic-Zaniolo-Brescianini, the trident that usually remains in the closet, and in the middle he started with De Roon and Scalvini. Real gamble. When he changed, he conceded goals.
the match
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The semi-final is beautiful, with many shocks and one team superior to the other. It is no coincidence that Carnesecchi is already at risk in the first minute. Not only that, in the first quarter of the match he could score three goals. Minute 1: Lautaro kicks twice, then Mkhitaryan tries, which Zappacosta rejects. 10th minute: miracle from Carnesecchi, who rejects Lautaro and celebrates as goalkeepers only do for generational saves. 21st minute: hole in the white defence, Lautaro shoots well but the Atalanta goalkeeper says no twice more, to him and to Dimarco, ready as always for the rebound. In between, a size XL opportunity for Atalanta: a gift from Bastoni who, looking for a back pass to Sommer, finds Scalvini for the comfortable header. Yes, comfortable but sensationally slow and central. So what? And then at that point the first half drops in tone, the pace drops, Lautaro has time to kick again (very high) and above all to free Dumfries in front of the goal. Pure Inter Inzaghiana copyright: heel of the toe for the insertion of the fifth. Ruggeri, from behind, decides to try: he takes a big risk but touches the ball.
the decisive moment
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Eleven in the evening in Riyadh, nine in Italy, brought two new features: Taremi on the pitch after the break for Thuram (injured and seen little) and the goal from Dumfries, who changed face in the second half after 3 minutes. Corner from the right, the ball is thrown back into the middle and bounces there, until the Dutchman, in front of Scalvini, jumps for the overhead kick. Perfect. The key moment, even more important, however, is the triple change. Gasperini brought on De Ketelaere, Lookman and Ederson in the 55th minute, hoping to turn the tables. Nope, Inter are hurting as always at the restart. After an hour of the match, Dimarco launches the counterattack which, one rebound later, ends up in Dumfries: great shot under the crossbar and the game is headed. Here, Atalanta would have one last chance to get the match back on track, with 20 minutes to go. First Lautaro misses a sort of penalty in front of Carnesecchi – a shot on the goalkeeper – then Ederson scores at the end of an insistent action. He would score, because the VAR sees De Ketelaere's offside and cancels it. Here we understand that the game is over. Emotions, certainly not. The young Palestra, who came on for Gasp, takes away a goal scored by Lautaro, and around the 90th minute Sommer earns the big vote by saving Djimsiti and Lookman in the space of two seconds. The Arab public then understands that the match is over and starts singing like San Siro: “For all those kilometers I did for you…”. Whether in the desert or with the new metro in Riyadh, they don't explain.
