Three Things We Learned From Inter Milan vs Lazio: Nuno Tavares Rushed Back Again

Lazio confirmed they’re much more at ease when playing away from home, as they forced Inter Milan to settle for a 2-2 draw at San Siro.

Simone Inzaghi’s men set the stands ablaze twice by taking the lead, first through Yann Bisseck and then from a Denzel Dumfries header, but Pedro came off the bench to peg the Nerazzurri back on both occasions.

This result was hardly ideal for either side, as Inter wasted a golden opportunity to overtake Napoli in the epic Scudetto race, while Lazio slipped to 6th place, with their Champions League hopes now hanging by a thread. So let’s discuss some of the interesting takeaways we collected in the aftermath of a thrilling contest at the Meazza.

For what felt like the umpteenth time this season, Nuno Tavares was forced off the pitch due to a physical problem. While this could hopefully be a mere cramp, one can never be too optimistic with a player who suffered seven muscle injuries this term, including several over the last couple of months.

So this begs the following question: Did Marco Baroni and his staff once again rush the Portuguese back to action because Luca Pellegrini was suspended?

We say once again, because the manager had somewhat admitted his guilt the last time out, when Tavares was brought back for the decisive second leg against Bodo/Glimt, only to leave the pitch in tears after picking up another knock.

We discussed his condition before the match, as in my opinion, we needed him.

He told me that he felt like coming on and now we will have to evaluate this new relapse.

While we’re in no position to tell whether or not Lazio have truly been reckless in the way they’ve been handling the left-back’s injury debacle, it almost feels like the club has aggravated the situation with a few hasty call-ups.

Even with Mattia Zaccagni suspended and Gustav Isaksen enduring physical problems throughout the week, none of Tijjani Noslin, Loum Tchaouna or Fisayo Dele-Bashiru was selected in the starting lineup. To make matters even worse, none of them saw the pitch when Lazio were trailing in the result, despite representing attacking reinforcement.

In fact, when the camera picked up the trio warming up on the sidelines, they were hardly showing any signs of urgency, as if they could tell their time won’t come at San Siro, and indeed it didn’t.

Therefore, the Aquile’s depth issue can no longer be masked. Yes, Baroni has a decent number of attacking options at his disposal, but if he can’t trust them to come in and make an impact at the big stage, there’s little point in hosting them at Formello for another season. Hence, solidifying the squad with quality backups is another issue that Angelo Fabiani must address next summer.

Finally, Lazio proved that their horrendous 6-0 defeat to Inter back in December was a mere anomaly (that and the beatdown at Bologna in March), as this team has the strength and tenacity to match any opponent on its day, and even outplay them.

Therefore, many would feel that a team capable of collecting four points from its two trips to San Siro is ought to finish in the Top 4, but it must be noted that every single team in Serie A has been guilty of dropping silly point throughout this unusual campaign, and it just happens that Lazio squandered one or two more than those who are now expected to qualify for the Champions League.

But as the old saying goes: Never say never, especially not in this special Serie A edition.