Inter’s Federico Dimarco Has Quietly Morphed Into Serie A’s Best Left-Back

Few players from either Milan club will remember much about the last Champions League semi final ‘Euroderby’ in 2003. Given the relatively young age of Milan’s squad, most of Stefano Pioli’s side would’ve been in single digits in 2003. Rafael Leao for example, Milan’s star player, would’ve been four-years-old.

Inter’s players, whose average age is much higher at 28, may have a better recollection of those two, tense games in early May 2003, decided by an Andriy Shevchenko ‘away’ goal in the second leg. The one player who recollects them vividly is left-back Federico Dimarco, an Interista from birth, who was there.

“In 2003 I was at San Siro, I don’t have wonderful memories as a fan,” said Dimarco in the pre-game press conference. “To think that twenty years ago I was a spectator and that tomorrow I’ll be playing on the pitch, it’s an incredible emotion.”

Two decades on, Dimarco is one of the few from the current Inter starting XI who would have had a decent shot of making into that star-studded Hector Cuper side of 2003, all due respect to Francesco Coco.

Dimarco’s importance to Inter has grown substantially over the course of this season to the point where he is now an automatic first-choice pick for Simone Inzaghi.

In January 2022, Inter had anticipated Ivan Perisic would likely leave the club in the summer, and so general director Beppe Marrotta took steps to replace Perisic with the signings of Robin Gosens from Atalanta. Gosens, who was then-regarded by many as one of the best left wing-backs in Europe, was viewed as a shrewd signing for a club who had become entrenched in a 3-5-2 system since Antonio Conte arrived in 2019.

Yet Gosens’ move across northern Italy hasn’t been the success many predicted. Injuries have played a huge part, but the development of Dimarco has also played a key role in Inter reportedly contemplating letting Gosens go in the January transfer window, just a year after arriving.

While Gosens’ key attribute is getting into goal scoring opportunities throughout games, Dimarco’s game is based on having the clichéd cultured left-foot and searing pace. It’s the latter attribute that has become vital to Inzaghi.

In Champions League games where pace and intensity is several notches higher than Serie A games, Dimarco’s pace is crucial, more so considering Inter aren’t the quickest of teams, with many of their players, while technically exquisite, wouldn’t make on to the podium in a 100-metre sprint.

Dimarco’s presence down the left has become an important outlet for Inter, overlapping the left-sided midfielder, usually Marcelo Brozovic, to great effect. Just how quick Dimarco is was perfectly illustrated in the 2-0 away win at Roma last weekend. For the opener, Denzel Dumfries’ curling cross from the right-hand side evaded everyone, as the ball arched across the width of the Roma penalty box. Dimarco, however, bombed ahead of his marker Nicola Zalewski to meet it and placed the ball beyond Rui Patricio to give Inter the lead.

It was Dimarco’s sixth goal of the season in all competitions in addition to eight assists, four of which have come in the Champions League. After cutting his teeth in Serie A with loan spells at first Parma and then Verona, the 25-year-old is about to hit the prime of his career.

“On the mental level, I feel more mature,” remarked Dimarco. “When you play many important matches you gain confidence and self-esteem and this has contributed to my growth.”

Going into the first leg, much of Pioli’s attention will focus on keeping Lautaro Martinez, Nicolo Barella and Romelu Lukaku quiet, but neglecting Dimarco could prove costly.

With Theo Hernandez’s form indifferent, an argument could be made that Dimarco has been the best left-back in Serie A this season. The Euroderby games represent the biggest for a generation and with the stakes remarkably high for both, with one of the two likely to miss out on this competition next season. The consequence of this is just like the 2003 games, these won’t be games for the neutral. Rather, they’ll be fraught and dogmatic. Yet Dimarco’s no doubt aware that immortalisation could be reached should he be the difference maker over the course of the two games. moreover, it’s a chance to exercise the demons of 20 years ago.

And you wouldn’t bet against him.