Inter Milan defeats Juventus in friendly match in Australia

Inter Milan, the Italian Serie A champions, defeated local rivals Juventus 2-1 in a friendly match held on Saturday in Perth, Australia, ahead of the new season, in front of 50,325 spectators. Federico Dimarco opened the scoring for Inter in the 20th minute, before French substitute Andy Delort added a second goal in the second half, just four minutes after coming on from the bench (62nd minute). Portuguese substitute Francisco Conceicao managed to narrow the deficit, but only late in the game (85th minute), handing Juventus their first defeat in their fifth pre-season friendly. Juventus finished sixth in last season’s Serie A, thereby missing out on qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

Last month, the “Old Lady” drew 0-0 with Swiss side Basel, then beat Belgian club Standard Liège 1-0 and French side Nice 2-0, before prevailing 1-0 against English club Chelsea in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Under manager Luciano Spalletti, the team will play two more friendlies against Palermo and then the club’s youth side, before beginning their Serie A campaign away to Frosinone on August 23.

As for Inter, they came from a 1-1 draw with city rivals Milan, also in Perth, where Dimarco scored the only goal on Wednesday, following a July 2-1 win over German side Schalke and a 1-1 draw with English club Manchester City (which Inter won 3-1 on penalties).

Managed by Romanian coach Cristian Chivu, Inter will face Spanish side Real Betis in their next friendly on the 15th, before starting their title defense with a match against Monza on the 22nd.