This weekend, Inter hosted Palermo, a weak side.
The Sicilian club was a classic yo-yo team.
After spending three consecutive seasons struggling in the mire of Serie B,
Palermo had finally made it back to Serie A.
But from the very start of the season, nobody believed the Sicilian side could avoid relegation!
Their owner hadn't invested much in new signings.
As a result, the squad still largely consisted of the same core players from last season's Serie B campaign.
The few new arrivals were young prospects loaned out by various Serie A powerhouses to gain experience~
Since the season began, Palermo had won one match and drawn one. They had lost every other game!
With a dismal four points, they were dead last in the standings.
As they prepared to host Serie A's second-to-last team, Mancini gave the squad one task: they had to take all three points!
Aside from Guarin, who had been dropped from the squad for disciplinary reasons, all of Inter's regular starters were in the lineup.
Mancini wasn't about to let his guard down just because they were facing a weak side at home.
As a seasoned coach, he knew that if they wanted to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, they could afford to drop points against strong teams like Juventus.
But against a weak side like Palermo, they had to thrash them at home!
After all, in Serie A, a team's floor was determined by whether it could dominate the weaker sides.
Inter had beaten Napoli away from home in their last match using a new 4-2-3-1 formation.
But Mancini hadn't been in charge of that game. For this one, he went with the more conservative 4-3-1-2, a formation he knew better.
Icardi returned to the starting lineup up front.
His partner was