Defending Serie A champion Inter Milan continued their dominance over current league leader Atalanta, securing a 2-0 victory in the Italian Super Cup semifinals on Thursday.
Denzel Dumfries starred for the Nerazzurri, netting two second-half goals to extend Inter’s winning streak against Atalanta to seven matches.
On Friday, Juventus will face AC Milan in the second semifinal, marking Sergio Conceicao’s debut as Milan’s coach following Paulo Fonseca’s dismissal.
The tournament, featuring four teams, will conclude with the final in Saudi Arabia on Monday, where Inter will aim to clinch the Super Cup title for the fourth consecutive year.
Dumfries opened the scoring with a spectacular overhead kick from close range and later sealed the win with a long-range strike during a counterattack. Inter also posed several threats in the first half but was repeatedly thwarted by Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi’s impressive saves.
Atalanta made surprising tactical decisions, keeping Ademola Lookman, Charles De Ketelaere, and Ederson on the bench initially. The trio entered the game around the hour mark, with Ederson briefly igniting hope after scoring a goal, only for it to be disallowed following a VAR review for offside.
Inter had previously routed Atalanta 4-0 twice in Serie A last year, in February and August. Currently, Atalanta and Napoli hold a slim one-point lead over Inter in the Serie A standings, though Inter has a game in hand.
The only downside for Inter came with Marcus Thuram’s early exit due to an apparent left thigh injury sustained before halftime.
