Inter 4-3 Fiorentina- The greatest game that no one talks about

Inter vs Fiorentina. September 26, 2020. In a stadium with (nearly) no fans at all, the teams played a classic that no one even mentions lately. The players, the goals, the quality of play, everything in the match was brilliant. Here I will break down the game so you can enjoy it too at Footballia.

The Teams

Inter

Inter Milan had fielded a, well, questionable starting XI. They played a 3-4-1-2 formation. In goal was Handanovic. The back three, well, was questionable. D'Ambrosio, Bastoni, Kolarov. Yes, no Skriniar. de Vrij was out because of injury, so I genuinely do not know what Conte was thinking. In midfield are Barella, Brozovic, and Eriksen. Three world class midfielders, nothing wrong with that. Ivan Perisic at left back, and Ashley Young as right back. That's right, Ashley Young at right back. I told you it was questionable.

But Inter had certainly got their front two right. Lautaro Martinez, and the great man la ka ka himself. These two had a formidable partnership at Inter, scoring 104 goals in their previous two seasons (not counting the recent 22-23 season). In the substitutes are Achraf Hakimi, Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal, Radja Naingollan, the greatest goalkeeper of all time Ionut Radu, and most questionably Milan Skriniar.

Fiorentina

Fiorentina played a similar formation to Inter, a 3-5-2. In goal was the bearded Bart Dragowski. The back three were Milenkovic, Cecherrini, and Careces. The midfielders are Castrovilli, Jack Bonaventura, and Sofyan Amrabat, who no one thought would become one of the best players in the world a few years later. The left back was Cristiano (ronaldo (siuuuuu)) Biraghi, and the right wing was Federico Chiesa, who would have become one of the best players too if not for injury. At right striker was Christian Kouame, and at left striker was one of the greatest players of the 2010s, and anyone watching Bayern would remember his historic 'robbery' partnership with Arjen Robben. It's Franck Ribery. On the bench is Igor (now at Brighton), World Cup winner Pezzella, flops Saponara and Cutrone, and Dusan Vlahovic, now one of the best strikers in the world.

BBE, Lautaro, la ka ka, versus Chiesa, Ribery, Vlahovic. It was destined to become a movie.

First Half

In an empty, but still virtual fan-filled San Siro, Sofyan Amrabat kicked off a classic Serie A clash. In the third minute, Franck Ribery, the legendary former Bayern winger, Franck Ribery, carried the ball with aplomb and played a long pass to Cristiano (ronaldo (siuuuuu)) Biraghi. Biraghi played a brilliant cross in, and Bonavantura is there. He lays if off to Kouame, who has the easiest of finishes. 1-0 Fiorentina.

Inter's frustrations were already showing. In the 6th minute, Barella was booked for a catch on Ribery. Later, Ribery was at it again, quickly spotting Cristiano (I'm not doing it again) Biraghi. His shot, though, was blocked by Ashley Young. Young then darted on the right flank and placed an exquisite cross, but Perisic's header went way over. Ok, young.

A few minutes later, a corner from Inter swung in. A blast from Kolarov is blocked, and Fiorentina counter. Ribery carries the ball masterfully and shimmies a pass to Kouame, who saw a shot blocked by Handanovic. Inter then very nearly had a penalty kick, with Lautaro shaping to shoot, but he was stopped by Caceres. After a long VAR check, the referee said no penalty. Fiorentina then had a deep free kick, and Cristiano (ronaldo (siuuuuu(hahaha))) Biraghi swerved the ball in. It was cleared, but the lively Kouame then dashed past two Inter players and put a sensational cross in. Milenkovic got a head to it, but it was just over the bar. Brilliant play all around.

The next minutes, however, were cagey. Fiorentina's Ceccherini got booked for a push on Martinez, and Inter saw a couple of optimistic efforts go wide. Young then tries to deliver another ball, but Dragowski does very well to punch the ball away. Then it's the Milenkovic show, with the Serbian defender putting several crunching challenges on Inter's attackers. A couple of chances followed, first for Fiorentina when Castrovilli became prime Messi and slipped the ball through to Kouame, but the brilliant Young stopped his shot and looped the ball over the bar. Then it's Young yet again, a cross into the middle finds Perisic, but he didn't connect properly and the ball went over the bar. Conte actually made a brilliant choice putting Young at right back.

But where are the goals? Well, Inter had a counter right at the end of the half, where Barella ran with the ball and found Martinez outside the box, where he thumped the ball into the bottom corner. 1-1 it is after a brilliant run from Barella and a finish from Martinez. And that draws an entertaining first half to a close.

Second Half

If you thought the first half was entertaining, the second half was an absolute balls-up. Early in the second half, Lautaro twisted and turned, holding off Sofyan Amrabat (who was just developing at the time), and fired an effort that would have gone miles wide, but Ceccherini accidentally poked the ball in for an own goal, which was very unfortunate. 2-1 Inter. Shades of Lukaku's 2020 Europa League Final own goal, and he must have seen that and thought to himself, "Phew, finally someone else did it."

It's Fiorentina's turn next. After receiving an absolutely sensational pass from Castrovilli, Ribery holds on to the ball, then slips it back for Castrovilli, who strikes the ball low into the bottom corner. 2-2 it is.

Fiorentina then made two substitutions, putting Kouame, who scored the first goal, off for Dusan Vlahovic, now a superstar for Juventus. Bonaventura, who had the assist, went off for former Inter player Borja Valero. Perisic then collected a lofted pass, took a touch, and launched a 'la ka ka shot' into the stands. Even Lukaku was surprised. Fiorentina, however, benefitted from another counter attack, and surprise, surprise, Ribery was anchoring it again. A throughball for the ages, Ribery plays an exquisite cross-field pass to Federico Chiesa, who takes a touch and slots it home. 3-2, what an incredible game.

Inter felt like they needed changes too. First, Christian Eriksen comes off for Stefano Sensi, and perhaps controversially, Young is taken off too, for Hakimi. What was Conte thinking, Young was Inter's best player at this point. But it won't matter, as long as Inter scores. They were handed a golden opportunity when Perisic squared the ball towards Lukaku, but then...

"lakaka"

Yep, Lukaku missed. Although Ceccherini amended his own goal with a brilliant piece of defending to put pressure on Lukaku, that miss was just plain lakaka that we see even now. After that, Fiorentina sensed that danger might be coming, so they subbed Federico Chiesa off for Pol Lirola. Martinez then tried a long shot, but it was easy for Dragowski. Fiorentina then break, Borja Valero or Amrabat (I swear they look identical) played a sensational ball to Pol Lirola, who found Vlahovic in open space. He shimmies and finds his angle, then shoots over the bar. He definitely had skills but needed to work on finishing. Dragowski then had his moments. First, he diverted a Lukaku shot out of goal with his right foot. Then Barella also had a powerful shot that stung the palm of Dragowski, who parried it over. Glimpses of the former goalkeeping talent. Inter were determined to get a result though, and they made three substitutions, putting Brozovic and Barella off for Vidal and Nainggolan. Perisic also comes off for Alexis Sanchez. However, Fiorentina once again gets the chance on the counter. They had played some of the most beautiful counter attacks recently in football. Amrabat runs with the ball, then plays a throughball to Ribery, who keeps the ball and then passes it to Vlahovic, who is in a position that himself today would have scored, but instead, he hits it well wide to the glass board. Terrible finishing and performance overall for Vlahovic, which would be so rare now.

At the 83rd minute, an ageless Ribery's show would come to an end, and replacing him would be Patrick Cutrone. He earned the applause of the tiny section of Inter fans who recognized his legend and wonderful play. And perhaps this was what made Fiorentina implode in the last minutes. In the 87th minute, Lukaku scored. Yes, lakaka. Sanchez curled the ball in the area, and Hakimi cut it back for Lukaku, who you would have bet your house to miss, but he thumped the ball past Dragowski for 3-3. What a game. Even Lukaku scored. This game had everything, but a late winner.

89th minute. Inter corner. Sensi caught the ball. Short corner. The ball was played to Alexis Sanchez. A cross into the box. The ball nicked off Castrovilli. Warped across the wall of bodies.

D'Ambrosio was there. He jumped and met the ball with aplomb.

Goal.

Even with little fans, you can still feel the jubilation of Inter. The players, the little area of fans in the stadium, and Inter's owners and board. They are in the lead, 4-3. The virtual fans on the ad boards all celebrated with fists in the air. They waved each of their Inter flags loud and proud. In a world that was hampered by Covid, football still kept everyone together. That is the beauty of football.

That proved to be the last twist in a game that deserves to be etched into Serie A, or even football history. A game that had everything. It was thrilling from beginning to end, contained marvelous play and bizarre bloopers, and was filled with shots and goals. It had Romelu 'la ka ka' Lukaku, who showed that he was both lakaka and Big Rom in the same game. It had Franck Ribery, ladies and gentlemen, the legendary winger rolled back the years with a classic display with two assists. It had players that are now superstars shining on the world stage. Moroccans Hakimi and Amrabat made it all the way to the World Cup semifinals. Chiesa and Vlahovic are now world class players at Juventus. Bastoni, Barella, and Lautaro remained at Inter and are slowly becoming club legends. Every one of the players who participated in the game contributed to the beauty of it. Dragowski with his save on Barella. Ceccherini with his funny own goal, but also a sublime piece of defending on Lukaku. Milenkovic with his three bone-crunching tackles. Castrovilli with his Prime Messi dribble and brilliant finish. For Inter, Alexis Sanchez played passes that led to Inter's two late goals. Ashley Young stormed the right flank and delivered some magnificent balls. And of all people, Danilo D'Ambrosio scored the winning goal.

Classic match, classic football.

I watched this sensational match at Footballia, a website that has thousands of historical and recent football matches. You can watch the game here with an account: (https://footballia.net/matches/fc-internazionale-acf-fiorentina-serie-a-2020-2021)

Citations: Mattia Ozbot/Soccrates/Getty Images (Fiorentina image)

AP (Inter image)

The rest of the images are my own screenshots, taken from Footballia.