The beginning of 2012

This post is intended to give a brief overview on how the start of 2012 will be for Inter across all teams and competitions. So we start with:

Serie A

Current standing: 5th place

Next match: Home against Parma on Sat, Jan 7 (20:45 CET) 

Us: After an horrible start in the hands of 343 Gasperini, Ranieri seems to have put this team back on the tracks as we end the year with four straight wins in Serie A. What does it means? Very little. None of the four wins were really impressive (maybe the one against Lecce but hey, playing at home with the weakest team in Serie A...) and none of them were against big teams. On the other hand, the losses against bigger clubs were also not that bad so... 2012 will really be an wildcard. The team is much much better than 6 months ago, but that also doesn't mean much. Our true tests will be the derby and Lazio. I personally have a good feeling that if Sneijder comes back and Nagatomo continues bossing around, we could even dream about the Scudetto. Positive expectancies over the many players that returned or are returning from injuries (Wall, Forlan, Sneijder, Maicon, ...) and someone new on the winter Mercato.

Coppa Italia

Current standing: qualified for round of 8
Next match: Home against Genoa on Thu, Jan 19 (21:00 CET)

Us: ohh, is it now we start playing?

Them: we should have few issues getting past Genoa (as recently seen). After that, things start getting tricky with (probably) Napoli, Udinese and Milan (or Juventus).

Champions League

Current standing: qualified for round of 16 as 1st of group B
Next match: Away against Olympique Marseille on Wed, Feb 22 (20:45 CET)

Us: I cannot say we struggled to qualify as we had secured top spot one game ahead but I was expecting more points in the easiest group of CL.

Them: in the CL they got exactly the expected results: 2 losses to Real Madrid, 2 ties with Ajax and 2 wins against Dinamo Zagreb. On Ligue 1 they stand in 6th, behind Lille (our favorite victim this year). Not the easiest opponent (Basel, Apoel Nicosia) but surely not the hardest (Bayer Leverkussen, Olympique Lyonnais).

Italy: this was a very good season so far for Italy in European leagues after all that mumbling about the decline of Italian calcio. All three teams managed to get trough in CL (including the very dificult task of Napoli to overcome Man. City) and two (Udinese and Lazio) out of four in Europa League.

Campionato Nazionale Primavera

 

Current standing: 4th (one game down)
Next match: Home against Cittadella on Sat, Jan 14

Us: Inter is curently down one match (Home against Varese) and three points below the leader Milan. The team, coached by Andrea Stramaccioni, has some names that we are getting used to hearing more often and that could prove to be valuable assets for first squad in the near future: Di Gennaro (goalkeeper), Alborno (Paraguayan defender), Bianchetti (defender), Bessa (Brazilian midfielder), Romanò (midfielder) and Longo (forward). Honestly, I really think Stramaccioni and his team deserve more attention and I'd like to watch their games, specially in the NextGen Series... but the Primavera team deserves an exclusive post for them, so at this moment I will just say they are doing their job very well.

Coppa Italia Primavera

Current standing: disqualified in the round of 8 (Fiorentina)

NextGen Series

 

Current standing: qualified for round of 8 as 2nd of group D

Next match: Away against Sporting Lisbon on Wed, Jan 25 (only one leg)

Us: After a crushing defeat to Tottenham away on the first round (7-1), Inter has managed to win their games against other group opponents (PSV and Basel) and draw against Tottenham at home. We still have one game left on the group stages but are already qualified for the next round with 10 points in 5 games.

Them: Sporting Lisbon qualified as 1st of group B with five wins against Liverpool, Wolfsburg and Molde and a draw away to Wolfsburg to total 16 points in 6 games.

Italy: Inter is the only Italian team fighting in this competition (4 British, 2 Norwegian (!!!), 2 Dutch, 1 German, 1 Scottish, 1 Spanish (only Barça), 1 Portuguese, 1 French and 1 Turk).

Others

We also lead or at tied for first in ALL other young championships: Juniores Berretti (U18), Allievi Nazionale (U17), Allievi Regionali (U16), Giovanissimi Nazionali (U15), Giovanissimi Regionali (U14) and Giovanissimi Regionali B (U13). Many congratulations for all the youth teams that prove that Inter reigns supreme in Italian calcio.


Happy holidays!