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AND WE CALL THIS FRIENDLY...

Inter had courage.  The draw with Galatasaray in bedlam of the ultras.

The Nerazzurri played well and Eto'o hit the post.

200 Turkish fans at the hotel, game suspended.

Bochum (Germany) Did they need a real test to get closer to the competitive environment (never mind the weather yesterday: the game was played at 12 degrees) on August 6 in Beijing?  Yes, Inter did just that with interest.  Because playing with Galatasaray was a true, very true test and a man of confidence that Allegri sent in the stands in Bochum to study the opponent for the Italian Super Cup saw an Inter that haven't done anything yet to be scared.  Granted that this was Inter's first real test after two weeks of work.

Intrusion of Ultras In the stadium, there was very little friendly about this game.  The Ruhr is a Turkish estate and 20 thousand tickets sold just in a few days to the Galatasaray fans said a lot.  Not only that, 200 Turkish hooligans, yesterday shortly after lunch, tried to enter the hotel where Inter players were resting with drums and smoke signals.  There's more.  It is not hard to imagine that Galatasaray took the advantage to the fullest extent permitted by the referee. 

Dangers And at the end, Inter were the team with the greatest dangers from a free-kick by Sneijder to the occasion of the post by Eto'o and not to mention the save of Ercetin against Castaignos's header.  But also, especially, Gasperni was able to check the status of work in progress.  The defense held up well considering the vivacity of the Turks.  Because certain movements are becoming more natural and the conditions of each individual are rising (see Ranocchia, Samuel and also Chivu who seems to be ahead of others in terms of conditioning).

Samuel: 7

Delicate task: managing time and distance of the defensive line, especially when it was at 3.  More and more better in the legs as he's becoming more solid.

Sneijder: 6.5

This time, perhaps he played a few minutes ahead but still trying to make himself as a central midfielder.  And with that free-kick, it seems that he is returning.

Orlandoni: 6.5

Still cold when he entered the field but he heated up quickly and became a captain at the end.  At least one result-saving save and security was in order.

Caldirola: 6.5

How to get into the match and immediately gave the team guarantees: decisive, concentration and in the right place.  There was always time to to fix if he did something wrong.

Alvarez: 5.5

The switch was turned off as the football light was dimmed.  Almost did better in the midfield.

Nagatomo: 5

Ran little, very few insertions, afraid to scope out his flank.  Not a coincidence that the first and only time we saw time was that almost assist (to Castaignos).

Sneijder in the center And then there was Sneijder as a central midfielder which is no longer an experiment but it is a deliberate decision.  Even without the freedom of the other three friendly matches, Wes tried to give the necessary mobility and at the same time quality of play by running and fighting as if he was required to do.  However, not everything went well during the game because the two outside midfielders struggled to make possession on the wings.

Blocked wings On the right, Nagatomo couldn't guarantee the balance between the defense of 3 and midfield of 4.  On the other side, there was Obi who had legs and character but still adapting (albeit did good) to play off-center.  Castaignos and Alvarez also got some important experience and both looked to help out the team defensively especially the Dutch.  The movement was sometimes bogged down a bit: after all, Gasperini insisted Eto'o to be in the central position and kept Pazzini on the bench for over an hour.  In the second half, however, instead of making changes on the wings, Alvarez was moved back to the midfield alongside Stankovic.  That experiment lasted too little before the game got suspended.  But the Argentinian has confirmed that he does not mind playing in that position.  To be continued.

Source: Gazzetta dello Sport