Dimarco Hurt, Inzaghi Under Scrutiny for Bastoni Subs | OneFootball

Inter will have to go through a key stretch of the season without Federico Dimarco, who suffered a right thigh strain. His deputies, Carlos Augusto and Nicola Zalewski, are currently on the mend as well. He’s tentatively expected to miss three weeks, Sky reports.

Simone Inzaghi adapted Denzel Dumfries to the left wing and used Benjamin Pavard as a wing-back in an emergency situation against the Partenopei. Switching to a 4-4-2 is also an option. The former Lazio boss hasn’t used a scheme different from 3-5-2 from the start in eight years.

In the meantime, the Inter manager is catching flak for subbing off their best defender, Alessandro Bastoni, who had thwarted a pair of shots with last-ditch slides, a few minutes before Philip Billing’s equalizer versus Napoli.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Azzurri star leaving a little early is par for the course. He’s the most utilized man in their squad, having started in 37 of 39 seasonal matches. On the other hand, he’s also the leader when it comes to substitutions, having been replaced relatively early 23 times already.

Inter have often dropped points in ‘zona Cesarini,’ conceding 10 goals after the 76th minute. Bastoni wasn’t on the pitch in half of those instances. Still, he was there versus Genoa in the opener and the Supercoppa collapse. They aren’t necessarily airtight with him either.

Simone Inzaghi used to rotate the center-back more in previous campaigns but has decided to handle him differently in 2024/2025. The Inter skipper motivated the sub on Saturday.