Entering this season’s Coppa Italia at the last-16 stage, Inter Milan will host the last second-tier team standing on Wednesday, when they welcome Venezia to San Siro.
Inter bounced back from consecutive defeats to win in the league last weekend, and they start strong favourites to meet either Roma or Torino in the cup quarter-finals.
Match preview
After two painful losses in less than a week, Inter sought a positive response when visiting Serie A strugglers Pisa on Sunday, with victory the only acceptable result.
Before meeting their fellow Nerazzurri in Tuscany, Cristian Chivu’s side had lost both the Derby della Madonnina to AC Milan and a big Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid – the latter to a last-gasp goal.
In times of trouble, they turned to captain Lautaro Martinez for inspiration, and after a goalless first hour at Arena Garibaldi he duly delivered by bagging a late brace.
That 2-0 win kept Inter in the thick of a fascinating title fight, as one of four teams separated by just a single point near the summit of Serie A.
Before resuming their Scudetto challenge with a tough weekend game against improving local rivals Como, Chivu’s men must kick off their latest cup campaign.
Nine-time winners – most recently in 2023 – Inter will play their 400th Coppa Italia tie on Wednesday, when they meet one of their favourite opponents.
© Imago
Of 16 previous meetings with Inter in Milan, Venezia have lost no fewer than 13, with their sole success dating way back to April 1943.
That famous win came two years after the Lagunari had lifted the Coppa Italia for the first – and still only – time in their history.
This season, they are the sole Serie B side left in Italy’s national knockout competition after two rounds, having eliminated Mantova and then regional rivals Hellas Verona.
After winning 4-0 on home turf in round one, Venezia eventually prevailed on penalties against Verona, following 90 goalless minutes at the Bentegodi.
Since then, six wins from 10 league fixtures have taken Giovanni Stroppa’s team into the playoff places, and they are just five points shy of leaders Monza.
Ultimately, the Veneto club’s priority is to bounce straight back to Serie A after last term’s demotion, but causing a cup shock would do no harm to their confidence.
Inter Milan form (all competitions):
W W W L L W
Venezia Coppa Italia form:
W W
Venezia form (all competitions):
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Team News
© Imago / Goal Sports Images
Amid a hectic December schedule on several fronts – Serie A, the Champions League and Supercoppa Italiana – Inter are set to rotate their squad in the cup.
Fringe players such as summer signings Luiz Henrique and Andy Diouf – who have had very few opportunities so far – could feature, as several stars take a rest.
Wing-backs Denzel Dumfries and Matteo Darmian are still sidelined by injury, while it remains to be seen if French forward Ange-Yoan Bonny will recover from an illness.
Venezia are also unlikely to field their strongest XI, so top scorer Andrea Adorante may not start despite his double in Saturday’s league win against Mantova.
Issa Doumbia and John Yeboah both scored twice in the first round and could feature again, in addition to goalkeeper Filip Stankovic, who came through Inter’s primavera.
Meanwhile, the Arancioneroverdi’s main absentees are Bartol Franjic and Juventus loanee Alessandro Pietrelli.
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Bisseck, De Vrij, Augusto; Henrique, Diouf, Zielinski, Frattesi, Cocchi; Thuram, Esposito
Venezia possible starting lineup:
Stankovic; Schingtienne, Korac, Sverko; Hainaut, Doumbia, Duncan, Busio, Haps; Yeboah, Fila
We say: Inter Milan 3-1 Venezia
Not only are Inter able to make changes without a major drop in quality, they rarely slip up against Italy’s lesser lights – big games have proved their problem.
Enjoying a purple patch at the moment, the visitors have posted seven wins from eight in Venice this season but are much less impressive on the road.
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