Preview: Inter Milan vs. Parma

Preview: Inter Milan vs. Parma

Reigning Coppa Italia champions Inter Milan begin their defence of the trophy against Serie B outfit Parma on Tuesday.

Parma defeated Salernitana and Bari to reach the round-of-32 stage.

After inflicting Serie A leaders Napoli’s first defeat of the season in their first game back after the recent World Cup in Qatar, Inter Milan would have had eyes on putting together a winning run to make up ground on Luciano Spalletti’s side in the table.

However, Inter were twice pegged back by Monza in a 2-2 draw at Stadio Brianteo on Saturday, meaning it was a case of one step forward and one step backwards yet again for Simeone Inzaghi’s team in what has proven to be an inconsistent campaign so far.

As such, retaining the Coppa Italia is likely to be I Nerazzurri’s best chance of winning a trophy this season, although they remain in the hunt for a fourth European Cup title after being drawn against Porto in the first knockout round.

The winner of Tuesday’s tie will face either Atalanta or Spezia in the quarter-final, so Inzaghi will be keen to see his side reach the final four of Italy’s domestic cup competition at the very least.

Parma, meanwhile, are still licking their wounds from being relegated from Serie A after finishing rock-bottom in the 2020-21 season.

After falling to the fourth tier of Italian football due to financial difficulties in 2015, the Yellow and Blues impressively earned three successive promotions to return to the elite, but their stay came to an end once again after three seasons.

Parma never looked like bouncing back at the first attempt, ultimately finishing 12th last season, but this time around they are in the mix of the playoffs and are enjoying a decent cup run.

Indeed, should they stun Inter at San Siro on Tuesday, it would represent their first quarter-final appearance in the Coppa Italia for eight seasons.

Inter Milan form (all competitions):
WDWWWD

Parma Coppa Italia form:
WW

Parma form (all competitions):
LDLWLD

We say: Inter Milan 2-0 Parma
Despite Inzaghi being likely to make selection changes en masse, we expect Inter to have too much strength in depth for their Serie B opponents.

Parma’s form has been relatively patchy of late, and it is likely to be one game too far for them in terms of their Coppa Italian run.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *