Inter overcame Scudetto holders, Napoli, to win the Supercoppa Italiana in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Monday evening.
With a chance to win the first trophy of the 2023-2024 season, the reigning Scudetto champions, Napoli, faced the reigning Coppa Italia champions, Inter, in the Supercoppa Italiana final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In a tight match, the outcome was a close 1-0 victory to Inter, thanks to a winning goal at the death from captain Lautaro Martínez. This was Inter’s third consecutive Supercoppa victory- and have now won the trophy eight times. Only nine-time winners Juventus have won the competition more.
Inter lined up as follows (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, de Vrij, Acerbi; Darmian, Barella, Çalhanoğlu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Lautaro Martínez.
Napoli lined up as follows (3-4-3): Gollini; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus; Zerbin, Cajuste, Lobotka, Mazzocchi; Politano, Simeone, Kvaratskhelia.
The first half was quite quiet with neither team having great chances. Inter had the better of Napoli, having a few shots going over the net, or missing the target from corners. The first big chance came in the 38th minute of play when Federico Dimarco put Marcus Thuram through on goal. Thuram could dance around one Napoli defender and slot the ball into the box across the net for Lautaro Martínez to tap in. Unfortunately, Thuram was quite clearly offside and the goal was ruled out.
Moments later in the 43rd minute, Henrikh Mkhitaryan found Marcus Thuram again who was one-on-one with the Napoli goalkeeper. The ball was slightly ahead of Thuram who just barely got to it ahead of Gollini, toe-tapping it past the goalkeeper but wide of the direction he was running in. Two Napoli defenders were able to recover to prevent Thuram from having an open net.
Minutes after the second half kicked off, Yann Sommer was called into action for the first time. In the 51st minute, Napoli danger-man Khvicha Kvaratskhelia found the ball and cut in on his right foot, hammering a shot towards the far post. Inter’s goalkeeper made a fantastic outstretched save to prevent conceding.
In the 55th minute, Inter vice-captain, Nicolò Barella, was shown a yellow card for dissent after complaining to the referee about a foul. This is important to note as Barella was one yellow card away from receiving a suspension due to yellow card accumulation. In the Supercoppa, cards carry over and now, Barella will be suspended (along with Hakan Çalhanoğlu, who had already received a yellow card against Monza) for Inter’s upcoming Serie A match against Fiorentina on Sunday, January 28.
In the 60th minute, Napoli forward Giovanni Simeone was shown a second yellow card just five minutes after receiving his first. The forward mistimed a tackle, stepping directly onto the foot of Inter defender Francesco Acerbi. Napoli found themselves down to 10 men.
Down to 10 men, Napoli clearly began to park the bus and attempt to play for a draw in order to head to penalties- there would be no extra time in the Supercoppa, straight to penalties. Inter played the remainder of the match mainly in Napoli’s half, circulating the ball from side to side, waiting to break down the Scudetto holders. Finally, Benjamin Pavard received the ball on the right-hand side and was able to slot a pass on the ground into Napoli’s box. Who else but Inter’s captain, Lautaro Martínez, got on the end of this pass and won the game for Inter in the 91st minute of play!
Following a dramatic Supercoppa Italiana final, here is how we have rated the individual performances of Inter’s players on the day.
Player Ratings
Yann Sommer – 7
Kept a clean sheet and made a fantastic save on Napoli’s only shot on target all match. Was precise with his distribution.
Benjamin Pavard – 7.5
Defensively solid, kept Kvara quiet all evening. Provided the decisive assist to win his first trophy as an Inter player!
Stefan de Vrij – 7
Probably Inter’s best player of the first half. Made clutch tackles and was winning all his duels.
Francesco Acerbi – 7
Did his best to replace the injured Alessandro Bastoni by making daunting runs out from the back. Even created 2 chances.
Nicolò Barella – 6
Miscued many shots and crosses, out of character for him. But what was very in character of Nico, was getting booked for dissent. An unnecessary yellow card and now misses Inters’s next match.
Hakan Çalhanoğlu- 6.5
Looked like he was trying to get booked in the first half. Several reckless tackles and lunges. Was kept on the entire match despite being booked, evidently in case of penalties, but was unable to fully commit to tackles throughout the second half so as to not risk being sent off.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6.5
Lost too many duels in the middle of the park. Uncharacteristic match for the Armenian midfielder. A sign that perhaps all these consecutive 90-minute matches are catching up with him.
Federico Dimarco – 6.5
Looked sluggish when the match started but settled into the game as it went on. Did his best to link up on the left-hand side and create opportunities for his teammates waiting in the opposing box.
Marcus Thuram – 6
Unlucky evening for a player who has been so good this season. His finishing just wasn’t on tonight. Unable to hit the target, although made many good runs and used his dribbling skills and pace.
Lautaro Martínez (C) – 8
Captain, goalscorer, officially named man of the match. What more could we ask for? Elevating himself to new levels this season. A true professional and a player to rely on.
Substitutes
Carlos Augusto – 6
Entered as a left centre-back but began another attacking outlet, making many overlapping runs and crosses into the box.
Davide Frattesi – 6.5
Instantly got very involved, doing his best to create opportunities for the team and making lots of forward runs. Made a positive impact.
Alexis Sánchez – 7
Really positive performance, despite only being on for around 10 minutes. Entered with a sense of urgency and provided good energy on the pitch to inspire his teammates to keep pressing.
Marko Arnautović – 6
Not super involved, but made two great clutch slide tackles in the dying seconds of the match to preserve Inter’s lead. Great mentality!
Yann Bisseck – 7
Had only about three minutes of play, but in those three minutes won a couple of aerial duels, calmed things down and won a free-kick to basically kill the game off. Really mature cameo.
This was one of those games that looked destined for penalties, as Napoli seemed to hold on despite having the kitchen sink thrown at them.
For what it’s worth, I thought the second yellow for Simeone was harsh: the stomp on Acerbi looked mistimed rather than malicious.
Having said that, there’s no doubt in my mind that we deserved the win. Even before the sending off, we were dominating the chances. We were definitely looking fatigued compared to Friday, which is understandable. I think we lacked the kind of fluidity we showed against Lazio. But to be honest, this was kind of Napoli’s B team without Osimhen, Zielinski, Anguissa, etc. so we were expected to dominate.
On individual players:
1. I think Barella was particularly disappointing. He really spoils us in general with his class on the ball, but today, he reverted to a whiny little brat. From minute one, you could see he was complaining at his teammates and showing frustration, while rarely doing much better himself. He showed that frustration all the way back to the bench. I do feel Barella can be world class on most days, but he has always had that petulance. As the vice-captain, he needs to be better. Even if he’s off on the passing and shooting, he needs to be a positive force on the team, not the irritating character we saw today.
2. Frattesi came on and once again was decisive. He is a beast in the box, and his little dummy was almost as important as Pavard’s assist in the build up to the goal. He’ll get the starting spot next week since Barella got himself booked, and I hope Frattesi makes good on it.
3. Our whole back line deserves massive kudos. No matter which 3 are out there, the quality level remains high. But I do think Pavard brings a little something extra when he plays, and that pace and energy is clutch on both ends.
4. Last but not least, we’re all running out of superlatives to describe Lautaro. Captain Fantastic, and the very soul of the team this season. From sliding tackles in the midfield to win back possession, to Cristiano Ronaldo-esque leaps for headers, he really does it all for us now. Deservedly lifted his first trophy as the captain, and may there be many more for many years to come.