The two Milan teams will face each other again in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals
Inter will host AC Milan on Wednesday for the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals (3 p.m. ET on Paramount+) after the 1-1 draw in the first leg that took place on April 2 at San Siro. As Italian soccer had to face the impact of the passing of Pope Francis, all Monday Serie A games were postponed to Wednesday as well, while the Coppa Italia semifinal between Inter and AC Milan was confirmed to go underway on the same day at 3 p.m. ET, one day after Bologna will play Empoli in the other semifinal. The winners of the two semifinals will play the Coppa Italia final in Rome on May 14 at the Stadio Olimpico.
While Inter are now facing a key week after the 1-0 defeat against Bologna and are currently tied on points with Napoli in the Serie A standings with five games left before the end of the 2024-25 season, Simone Inzaghi’s side will face FC Barcelona on Wednesday April 30 for the first leg of the Champions League semifinals (watch on Paramount+) after facing AS Roma on Saturday at San Siro. On the other side, the away side are struggling and are currently 9th in the Serie A table, with few chances to qualify for both Champions or Europa League next season. This is why winning the Coppa Italia might become their strongest chance to play European soccer next year. Here’s what you need to know ahead of Wednesday’s semifinal:
Will Christian Pulisic play European soccer?
Christian Pulisic is facing the risk of not playing European soccer next season as AC Milan are currently 9th in the Serie A standings and out of all the competitions, and this is why winning the Coppa Italia might become their best chance to play European soccer next season as the winner of the Italian domestic cup will be qualified for the 2025-26 Europa League group stage. Pulisic, who scored 15 goals so far this season in all competitions, is also facing a difficult moment as he has not scored in the last five matches between Serie A and Coppa Italia, but he provided two key assists against Fiorentina and Udinese. It’s clear that Pulisic needs to play European soccer in the season that will precede the FIFA 2026 World Cup as it will take place in the United States in June and July of next year, but as things stand right now, it’s more likely to see him playing the Conference League rather than Champions or Europa League, unless the team coached by Sergio Conceicao react in the last stint of a disappointing season.
Inter’s fixture congestion a real test
As AC Milan have their last chance to play European soccer next season by winning the Coppa Italia, Inter have the exact opposite problem as Inzaghi’s side are still in all the competitions and can also potentially win the treble. The Nerazzurri need to focus on three different tournaments at the same time, and due to injuries, Inzaghi was forced to play some of their best players every three days, increasing the chances to have them being less rested for the key games. As a matter of fact, players like Denzel Dumfries and Piotr Zielinski were not available over the past weeks and won’t be part of the semifinals, alongside Inter striker Marcus Thuram, who is still recovering from injury. It’s clear that Inter are trying to have them back ahead of the weekend’s Serie A match against AS Roma and the Champions League semifinals against FC Barcelona, and this is just good news for the Rossoneri as they can, on the other hand, focus only on this match to save their season.
Can the Nerazzurri beat AC Milan this season?
Despite the different directions of the two seasons of Inter and AC Milan, the Rossoneri are unbeaten this season against the Nerazzurri as they won twice in the Serie A and in the Supercoppa Italiana final while they drew the last time they met in February. Even if Inter had a successful year so far, the Nerazzurri want to win at least once against their rival, and what better time than Wednesday.
