Supercoppa Italiana Preview: Inter Milan vs. AS Roma

Tonight, Serie A giants Inter Milan and AS Roma will cross swords at the mighty Giuseppe Meazza to decide which team will lift the first trophy of the season, La Supercoppa Italiana.

The raging Romans have sworn to do anything in their power to prevent the Nerazzurri from lifting their fourth trophy in the span of a few months.

The clash promises to be an intriguing one just as the majority of the games played between the two sides are. Add Adriano’s return to his old stomping grounds to the fray and you get a mouth-watering reason to stay tuned to your television set for 90 minutes.

INTER MILAN

When Javier Zanetti, after 15 years of faithful service to the club, lifted the prestigious Champions League trophy toward the Madrid sky, Inter Milan had completed the historic treble.

Soon afterwards, José Mourinho declared that he would be remaining in the Spanish capital where he would take charge of La Liga giants, Real Madrid.

The former Liverpool tactician, Rafael Benitez, was named the Portuguese mastermind’s successor shortly after. The Spaniard has received mixed results during the preseason friendlies, but is tonight presented with his first competitive game—and the chance to mark his reign with a winning start.

Inter have bought half of Andrea Ranocchia’s rights from Bari while making Parma duo MacDonald Mariga and Jonathan Biabiany fully fledged Nerazzurri players. However, with the exception for Mario Balotelli’s €30 million move to Manchester City—where the youngster re-united with former coach, Roberto Mancini—the Nerazzurri can’t boast much activity on the transfer market this summer.

Tonight, the Italian and European champions have a shot at lifting their fourth trophy in a year. However, they should by no means underestimate the opposition that last season once again came tantalizingly close to dethroning the reigning champions.

Squad: Cesar, Castellazzi, Orlandoni; Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel, Chivu; Stankovic, Sneijder, Mariga, Cambiasso, Joel Obi, Coutinho; Eto’o, Milito, Pandev, Biabiany

AS ROMA

The Romans have been dubbed the “anti-Inter” in recent years and have, as mentioned before, been the only side strong enough to pose a genuine threat to Inter’s dominance in the past few season.

Last year, Claudio Ranieri’s side went on a huge winning streak as they remained undefeated in the league from October 28 to April 26—during which period they even spent a week on top of the table. However, the 2-1 home defeat to Sampdoria toward the end of the campaign proved decisive as I Lupi finished two points behind José Mourinho’s men.

Newly appointed La Nazionale coach Cesare Prandelli has tipped the club to continue being Inter’s biggest opponents in the upcoming campaign—despite the club’s failure to make Nicolas Burdisso’s stay as permanent as the city to which the club belongs.

However, the Giallorossi did manage to lure former Nerazzurri forward Adriano back to Italy and unlike the general opinion believing the deal to be a hazardous one, club owner Rosella Sensi believes the contrary. Only time will tell which of the two is correct, but tonight the Emperor will return to his former home ground, dressed in enemy colors as he will try to defeat his former ex-teammates.  

Squad: Lobont, Doni, Pena; Andreolli, Juan, Mexes, Riise, Burdisso (younger brother), Cassetti, Rosi; Simplicio, Pizarro, Taddei, De Rossi, Perrotta, Brighi; Adriano, Totti, Menez, Vucinic, Okaka