Inter Milan closed the gap on Serie A leaders Napoli to three points with a narrow 1-0 victory over Verona at the San Siro.
Simone Inzaghi made sweeping changes to his starting XI, resting 10 players from the side that drew 3-3 with Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final earlier in the week, clearly prioritizing next Tuesday’s decisive second leg.
Having suffered back-to-back league defeats and with Napoli defeating Lecce earlier in the day, Inter kicked off six points adrift of Antonio Conte’s side.
But the reigning champions made a bright start and were handed an early opportunity when Nicolas Valentini was penalized for handball inside the box.
Kristjan Asllani converted the resulting penalty in the ninth minute, sending goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo the wrong way to score his first Serie A goal of the season.
Inter maintained control for much of the match, though chances were limited against a resilient Verona side who had lost just one of their previous five league games.
In fact, Asllani’s spot-kick was one of only three shots on target in the entire match.
Despite the lack of attacking fireworks, Inter will be content with a vital three points that keep their title hopes alive.
With three matches left for both teams, the race for the Scudetto remains wide open.
