Lazio's black & blue nightmare continues - Inter knock them out of the Cup

Even with some key players like Denzel Dumfries, Lautaro Martinez, Hakan Calhanoglu, Alessandro Bastoni, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the bench, Inter Milan are Lazio's biggest nightmare. Not only has the crew from the Italian capital failed to beat the Nerazzuri for two and a half years, but they've been crushed twice in two months.

In December in Serie A at Olimpico, Simone Inzaghi's men demolished the Eagles 6-0. Last night at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, they were more "merciful" but still noted a clean-sheet victory - 2-0.

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Former Lazio striker and Inter boss benched several regular starters, but even that didn't help Marco Baroni's squad, as the secondary characters shone in leading roles. Truth be told, the visitors from Rome were better last night and had significantly more attempts (13-4) and corner kicks (8-3) but failed to crown their dominance with goals.

Conversely, Inter's only two shots on target found the net. The first one, in the 39th minute, was an absolute banger, as Marko Arnautovic's superb volley ended up behind Christos Mandas' back. The final verdict came 13 minutes before the end when the sub Hakan Calhanoglu converted a penalty.

The Nerazzuri scheduled the Derby della Madonnina in the semi-finals as their city rivals, AC Milan, await them in the next round. In the last quarter-final clash, Juventus will host Empoli tonight (23.00), and the winner of that duel will face Bologna in the other semi-final match.

COPPA ITALIA - QUARTER-FINALS

Tuesday

Inter - Lazio 2-0 (1-0)

/Arnautovic 39, Calhanoglu 77 pen/

Wednesday

23.00: (1.28) Juventus (5.40) Empoli (12.0)

***odds are subject to change***