Inter defeated Napoli in the Italian Super Cup match

In the final of the Italian Super Cup, held in Riyadh, last season’s Italian champion Napoli, currently experiencing difficulties, was unable to fill the club museum, losing to Inter – 0:1. The goal in stoppage time in the second half was scored by Argentine striker Lautaro Martinez. For the Milan club, the trophy became the eighth in history and the third in a row.

The Neapolitan team could hardly be considered the favorites of the match: Walter Mazzarri’s men are ninth in the Italian Championship, and in the national cup they were defeated by Frosinone with a score of 0:4. The restructuring, organized by the club’s owner, famous Italian film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis, does not live up to expectations. After the departure of the coach-creator of last year’s championship, Luciano Spalletti, Napoli is trying to find itself. Frenchman Rudi Garcia, who replaced the Italian, was fired after five months of work. The return of Walter Mazzarri, who had already coached the club for four years at the beginning of the last decade, also did not improve the situation. Although Napoli reached the play-offs of the Champions League from second place in the group, the prospects of getting past Barcelona, ​​which they could not beat even with Spalletti, are very vague.

At the same time, Simone Inzaghi, who leads Inter, is aiming for the first championship in his career. The club is now fighting with Juventus for the title: it is second, just one point behind its competitor, and also has a match in hand. With Inter, Inzaghi managed to take four trophies and reach the Champions League final before the match with Napoli. This season, the Milanese club reached the 1/8 finals of the main continental cup, where they will meet Atlético Madrid.

Napoli, in turn, has lost three matches since December 19, 2023, which is more than the number of Inter defeats in the entire current season. The Neapolitans have been playing very unconvincingly in recent matches: in the last four games in the national championship, only four points were scored, and the only victory was achieved in the confrontation with Salernitana, which occupies last place in the standings.

On the way to the Super Cup final, Inter left no stone unturned against Lazio in the semi-finals, winning 3:0. Napoli defeated their rival Fiorentina with the same score.

The match was dictated by Inter from the very beginning. The Milanese had more possession of the ball, carried out more attacks, and overall looked preferable. Lautaro Martinez even managed to hit Pierluigi Gollini’s goal in the 38th minute, but the goal was canceled due to offside. Napoli made only two shots towards the opponent’s goal in the first 45 minutes.

In the second half, the situation did not change, Inter began to dominate the field even more. The Milanese had the ball for 75% of the second half and made as many as 15 shots on goal, five of which were on target. In the 51st minute, Napoli, through the efforts of Khvichi Kvaratskhelia, who had not scored in seven matches in a row, was able to strain the opponent for the only time in the match, but goalkeeper Yann Sommer was in place. The key moment of the meeting was the removal of Neapolitans forward Giovanni Simeone, the son of Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone. The striker received a second yellow card in the 60th minute for a foul in midfield. Inter’s goal after gaining a one-man advantage was a matter of time. The Milanese continued to press the opponent’s goal, creating moment after moment.

Napoli could not wait until the end of normal time: in the 91st minute, Lautaro Martinez completed Benjamin Pavard’s cross in the penalty area.

Inter won the Italian Super Cup for the eighth time; only Juventus was able to defeat it once more. For Simone Inzaghi, the victory in the Super Cup was the fifth in his career: the title was won three times with Inter and twice with Lazio, this is the best result in the history of the competition. Thanks to the victory over Napoli, Inzaghi was able to overtake Fabio Capello and Marcello Lippi, who have won the trophy four times each.

Ivan Kopenkin