Inter will host AC Milan on Wednesday for the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals after the two Milan teams drew 1-1 at San Siro on April 2 with the goals scored by Tammy Abraham and Hakan Calhanoglu. While winning the Coppa Italia has become the biggest chance for the Rossoneri to play European soccer next season as the team coached by Sergio Conceicao is sitting ninth in the Serie A table, the Nerazzurri are still in the race in all the big three competitions, including the Champions League, where they will face FC Barcelona in the semifinals starting on April 30.
Inter are still dealing with some key absences as Inzaghi won’t count on French striker Marcus Thuram, midfielder Piotr Zielinski and winger Denzel Dumfries who are still all recovering from their injuries and are expected to be available for the Champions League action. On the other side, AC Milan have most of their squad finally back, while USMNT star Christian Pulisic is expected to be included in the starting lineup.
How to watch Inter vs. AC Milan and odds
- Date: Wednesday, April 23 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: San Siro — Milan, Italy
- Live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Inter -134; Draw +260; AC Milan +400
The first leg
Inter and AC Milan already met three times this season as the Rossoneri are still unbeaten against the city rivals despite the disappointing season they are facing. AC Milan won 2-1 the first Derby della Madonnina back in September under former manager Paulo Fonseca before winning the Supercoppa Italiana final with an exciting 3-2 comeback in Saudi Arabia, which awarded the first trophy of the new Portuguese manager Sergio Conceicao, before the two teams met again and drew 1-1 on February 2.
What AC Milan are saying
Milan boss Conceicao said: “We have always added a fifth element to our defense, sometimes [Yunus] Musah, other times [Santiago] Gimenez. It depends on what we want from the game and the moment of the opponent, who in every game tries to do something different. There is always individuality and their own dynamics. We must exploit their weak points and pay attention to their strong points. A team that has a lot of dynamics and richness with the ball, but we have also done fantastic things in our attacking dynamics. Defensively, we have not been good in some things, and we must start from the foundations.”
Predicted lineups
Inter XI: Yann Sommer; Benjamin Pavard, Francesco Acerbi, Alessandro Bastoni; Matteo Darmian, Nicolo Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu, Henrix Mkhitaryan, Federico Dimarco; Lautaro Martinez, Joaquin Correa.
AC Milan XI: Mike Maignan; Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia, Strahinja Pavlovic; Kyle Walker, Youssouf Fofana, Tijani Reijnders, Theo Hernandez; Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham, Rafael Leao.
Player to watch
Christian Pulisic, AC Milan — The American international is called to lead the Rossoneri even during the challenging season AC Milan are facing. Pulisic, who scored 15 goals so far this season in all competitions, is also facing a difficult moment as he has not scored in the last five matches between Serie A and Coppa Italia, but he provided two key assists against Fiorentina and Udinese. At the same time, AC Milan potentially winning the Coppa Italia is the biggest chance for the Rossoneri to play European soccer next season, as they are currently ninth in the Serie A standings.
Storyline to watch
Can Inter react? The Nerazzurri lost 1-0 to Bologna in the last matchday of Serie A action and the team coached by Simone Inzaghi are currently tied on points with Napoli at the top of the table with five games left before the end of the Serie A season. The Nerazzurri are still competing in all the three competitions and will also play the FIFA Club World Cup this summer, but winning at least one Derby against AC Milan would definitely make things look better ahead of the last stint of the 2024-25 season.
Prediction
Inter are in a much better form compared to AC Milan, but Inzaghi’s side are struggling with the amount of games they are playing every three days. Pick: Inter 2, AC Milan 1.
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