Great first half hour from Atalanta.
They really played a tremendously aggressive game where they got in about Inter and made it difficult for them to get out and relieve pressure. A lot of it came from how much more aggressive Atalanta's three central defenders were prepared to be than Inter's. The aggression from the defenders allowed Atalanta's midfield to play higher and deny Inter comfortable possession even in deep areas.
I like to see a team play a very aggressive high defensive line in conditions like those. The wetness of the pitch means that any ball played over the top of the defence is likely to skid away through to the keeper, so there is less danger in the high line than in normal conditions. It is also desireable in those slippy conditions to try and do as much of your defending away from the penalty area, given how tough it is for defenders and keepers.
What was more interesting, though, was the way they targeted the left side of Inter's defence.
Moralez, and occasionally Cigarini, were really making an effort to attack the space between Juan and Nagatomo. With Alvarez the midfielder on the left for Inter and Cambiasso always reluctant to abandon his central postion, Juan and Nagatomo weren't getting good support and really struggled to keep that side quiet.
Anyway, Atalanta couldn't maintain the early tempo and Inter gradually gained more and more control over the game, which limited Atalanta's ability to set up attacks to target specific areas of Inter's defence in the way they could in the first half.
They really played a tremendously aggressive game where they got in about Inter and made it difficult for them to get out and relieve pressure. A lot of it came from how much more aggressive Atalanta's three central defenders were prepared to be than Inter's. The aggression from the defenders allowed Atalanta's midfield to play higher and deny Inter comfortable possession even in deep areas.
I like to see a team play a very aggressive high defensive line in conditions like those. The wetness of the pitch means that any ball played over the top of the defence is likely to skid away through to the keeper, so there is less danger in the high line than in normal conditions. It is also desireable in those slippy conditions to try and do as much of your defending away from the penalty area, given how tough it is for defenders and keepers.
What was more interesting, though, was the way they targeted the left side of Inter's defence.
Moralez, and occasionally Cigarini, were really making an effort to attack the space between Juan and Nagatomo. With Alvarez the midfielder on the left for Inter and Cambiasso always reluctant to abandon his central postion, Juan and Nagatomo weren't getting good support and really struggled to keep that side quiet.
Anyway, Atalanta couldn't maintain the early tempo and Inter gradually gained more and more control over the game, which limited Atalanta's ability to set up attacks to target specific areas of Inter's defence in the way they could in the first half.
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