Juventus vs. Inter: How Simone Inzaghi’s side’s depth will be the key to their Serie A Scudetto chase

Juventus will host Inter on Sunday for the Derby d’Italia, one of the most highly anticipated clashes of the season as the sides coached by Thiago Motta and Simone Inzaghi both have to win. The hosts are currently racing for a top four spot in the table, while the Nerazzurru are fighting Napoli to win another Serie A title, after winning the 2023-24 edition.

How to watch and odds

• Date: Sunday, Feb. 16 | Time: 2:45 p.m. ET
• Location: Allianz Stadium — Turin, Italy
• Live stream: Paramount+
• Odds: Juventus +233; Draw +300; Inter +123

The structure of the roster hasn’t really changed as compared to past seasons, as the Nerazzurri only made three signings in the summer 2024, with free agents Mehdi Taremi and Piotr Zielinski joining the club alongside second goalkeeper Josep Martinez from Genoa. While we might expect a lot of turnover happening in the summer 2025, Inzaghi needs to count on the reserves much more this year than before, for a specific reason. 

Inter’s schedule is much more complicated than Napoli, as the side coached by Antonio Conte will only play Serie A games until the end of the year, as they were not participating in any European competition and were also knocked out of the Coppa Italia in December. The Nerazzurri, on the other hand, are still in the race in all the three competitions, as they will play the Round of 16 of the Champions League after ending up in the top eight of the league phase, and on February 25 will face Lazio in the quarter finals of the Coppa Italia. Plus, at the end of the season, they will be participating in the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States. 

This is why Inzaghi needs to rotate his players way more than last year, and this is working quiet well. Former Napoli midfielder Zielinski has only played a total of 753 minutes so far in the Italian Serie A, 17th most minutes played on the roster, but he’s the 7th in the Champions League as he already played 446 minutes in eight games so far. Inzaghi’s rotations are precise and calculated in advance, and there was no surprise to see a lot of differences between players involved in the Italian Serie A and in the European games. At least until now. 

Players that were on the roster last year as well played more so far, like Stefan de Vrij and Yann Bisseck, who took advantage of the injuries of Francesco Acerbi and Benjamin Pavard in the first part of the season, while Brazilian winger Carlos Augusto is showing how his versatility is becoming a key factor. The former AC Monza defender can play in the position of Alessandro Bastoni, in the left of the three line defense and also as a winger when he replaces Federico Dimarco. 

Carlos Augusto, in particular, was able to become a much more central player for the team. He was the MVP of the last home game against Fiorentina, provided the deciding assist to his teammate Marko Arnautovic, and also won 10 out of 12 tackles, with two key passes and 31 out of 39 passes completed. A key game, as the Nerazzurri were able to reduce to only one point the gap with Napoli, just a few days after a disappointing 3-0 defeat against the same Fiorentina, the second defeat of their Serie A campaign. 

Thanks to his attitude and work when he’s called to play in multiple roles, often during the same game, Inzaghi is making more room for Carlos Augusto in the team, similarly to Matteo Darmian, another player that can benefit from his attitude and versatility. If Inter will be able to win another Scudetto, the second one in a row, a lot will have to do with the increasing centrality of players like them, becoming much more important in the first season with the new Champions League’s format and the new FIFA Club World Cup, as the numbers of the games and the schedule has been the busiest we’ve seen.