Two brothers, one job: The Inzaghis' dream week

While Simone Inzaghi is fighting for the Scudetto with Inter and advanced to the Champions League final on Tuesday in an epic match against Barcelona, his older brother Filippo has been promoted to Serie A with Pisa. FC Südtirol will host the Tuscan club on Friday evening (20.30:XNUMX p.m.).

Filippo Inzaghi was one of Italy's best and most legendary strikers of all time. Whether it was the World Cup or the Champions League, "Superpippo" won it all as a player. Simone Inzaghi flew somewhat under the radar. Although he also won titles with Lazio (League, UEFA Super Cup, Coppa Italia) and earned three caps for his international team, he never matched his brother's world-class career. As a coach, things are different now.

Two years after the bitter final defeat to Manchester City, Inzaghi and Inter have the chance to win the most coveted club title in football in Munich. The semifinal clash against Barcelona demonstrated Inzaghi's flexibility and tactical acumen. The Inter coach has long been one of the best coaches in the world and is leading a movement that has spread from South America to Europe in recent years.

Simone Inzaghi leads relationism movement in Europe We're talking about relationism, a kind of antithesis of Pep Guardiola's well-known positional play. Here, the focus is not on sequences, positions, and the players' spatial coverage, but rather on the ball and the individual creativity and quality of the players. Overloads, quick combinations, and flexible positional changes dominate the game, whereas in positional play, everything is precisely timed and therefore often appears very sterile.

Relationism originally originated in South America, especially in the football country of Brazil. Argentina's World Cup-winning coach Lionel Scaloni is also considered a proponent and one of those coaches who gives his players a lot of freedom on the pitch. In Europe, the most well-known coaches of this style of play are Inzaghi, Xabi Alonso, Luciano Spalletti, and the Swede Henrik Rydström, who achieved great success with Malmö. Simone Inzaghi celebrated after the victory over Barcelona with his son in his arms at San Siro. © APA/afp / PIERO CRUCIATTI

Speaking of Alonso: The Leverkusen champion coach has also played a decisive role in how Filippo Inzaghi's Pisa have performed this season. This may seem a bit strange at first glance, as Leverkusen has a lot of possession, while Pisa has the third-least (!) possession in the entire Serie B. In an interview with Journal of Sport Inzaghi revealed that he regularly showed his Pisa players videos of Bayer Leverkusen. "I showed the team videos of their defensive play, especially. Even the strikers are doing a great job," Inzaghi said in an interview.

Filippo Inzaghi and the inspirations of Xabi Alonso At Pisa, Filippo Inzaghi relies on a 3-4-2-1 system (just like Alonso at Leverkusen), fast transition football, good pressing, and a vertical approach to play. He has this in common with his brother, who, however, prefers a different style of football at Inter. Simone Inzaghi loves it when his team is in control. It's not for nothing that Inter have the highest ball possession figures in Serie A at almost 60 percent. But against Barcelona, Inzaghi showed that he can do things differently. Inter gave the Catalans the ball and countered like a textbook example. Clear patterns and sequences ultimately ensured that Inter were able to keep the favorites, led by prodigy Lamine Yamal, in check and can dream of the trophy on May 31 in Munich. Filippo Inzaghi and Pisa were promoted to Serie A last weekend. © Fabio Faqiolini

Filippo Inzaghi isn't there yet. He wants to prove with Pisa next season that he can also make it in Serie A. His previous top-flight engagements with Milan, Bologna, Benevento, and Salernitana haven't gone as planned. First, however, there are two league games to play in Serie B. On Friday, the Tuscans face FC Südtirol at home, who could then mathematically secure their place in the league. A milestone for the White and Reds, who will begin their fourth Serie B season this summer.

Serie A Italy	SP	TV	P
1. Naples	36	57:27	78
2. Inter	36	75:33	77
3. Atalanta	36	73:32	71
4. Juventus	36	53:33	64
5. Lazio	36	59:46	64
6. Roma	36	51:34	63
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Two brothers, one job: The Inzaghis' dream week

Once they were top players in Italy, now they are on cloud nine as coaches. We are talking about the Inzaghi brothers.

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