Post by Taxigirl on Jan 23, 2004 12:21:05 GMT
Stadio Braglia
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Inter were plunged into darkness this week by the shock home defeat to Empoli and President Massimo Moratti’s subsequent resignation. How will the team react to this latest crisis?
The Nerazzurri seem to run through the same pattern every year of remarkable confidence followed by a set of disappointing results and a public enquiry into their problems. Alberto Zaccheroni’s arrival had brought stability to the side, but their exit from the Champions’ League was an early warning sign that all was not well.
Now Inter have lost three of their last four Serie A games and the tension was evident in the almost hysterical reactions of first Matias Almeyda and then Emre Belozoglu to their red cards.
Christian Vieri’s situation is further fuelling this tension and mystery continues to surround his real physical condition. The striker was left in the stands for Sunday’s defeat to Empoli and club doctors ruled him out for three weeks with a thigh strain.
However, 24 hours later Zaccheroni announced the injury was "not that serious" and that he hoped to have Vieri available for this trip to Modena. Daniele Adani limped off with a muscular problem during that game, while Emre is suspended, so Fabio Cannavaro and Sabri Lamouchi return to the starting eleven.
Modena are in no better shape than Inter on a psychological level, having failed to pick up a single Serie A win since November 2. New signing Stephane Makinwa made a promising debut in the 1-1 draw with Lazio last week and his remarkable pace makes him a mirror to Inter’s own Obafemi Martins.
Diomansy Kamara is away on African Nations Cup duty, while Nicola Amoruso and Luca Ungari are injured, so Carlo Taldo may make a rare appearance. It should be noted that in Week 1 the Nerazzurri struggled to a 2-0 win over Modena at the San Siro, scoring both goals in the final minutes.
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Modena (probable): Ballotta; Pivotto, Cevoli, Grandoni, Balestri; Campedelli, Marasco, Milanetto, Domizzi; Makinwa, Vignaroli
Inter (probable): Toldo; Cordoba, Gamarra, Cannavaro; J Zanetti, Lamouchi, Almeyda, Pasquale; Cruz, Martins, van der Meyde