Inter Milan vs Juventus - Key Battles

Another season. Another title?(Getty Images)

So, it’s that time of year again. The old lady is in town for the Derby D’Italia. It seems to be a rebuilding year for Inter where they will be looking to recover from the horror of last campaign’s 9th place finish. Some might even say that this game is a bit of a formality, especially since Inter play with the same system as Juve and as such will be looking to beat Juve at their own game.

This is however, the Derby D’Italia and over the years it has proven to be a somewhat unpredictable game. Both teams will definitely go out looking for the win, especially, Inter playing at home. A few match-ups between some very special individuals might very well decide the game and here we try to analyse these key battles.

Andrea Ranocchia vs Carlos Tevez

The Argentine forward will be looking to exploit his considerable pace advantage when he goes up against the young Italian center half. The former Manchester United front man has settled in quickly with the Italian champions and has looked threatening every time he’s had the ball, having scored 2 goals in as many games for the old lady. It will be absolutely essential for Ranocchia to keep him honest and keep him off the ball for as long as possible.

Andrea Pirlo vs Ricky Alvarez

The attacking midfielder will eventually be tasked with trying to cover the metronome and it would be especially telling if he fails at this challenge. If the Italian veteran does manage to break free of his cover for even a split second it could very well lead to the demise of Inter Milan‘s defence, as his long range of passing will surely find its way to the back of the Inter defence.

On the flip-side, if Alvarez can break past the holding midfielder, he can unleash his monster left foot and score from pretty much anywhere inside the opposition half. It will be an interesting dual which might very well decide the fate of this year’s Derby D’Italia.

These two contests will probably define the result in this match between two behemoths in the Italian game. These match-ups might very well give us an early indication towards which of these two teams will stamp their authority on the 2013-14 Serie A season.

The San Siro will be rocking tonight and all that is left to be done at this point is to wait and watch as these two teams go to war with 3 points on the line.