Earlier today, Andrea Stramaccioni held his pressconference ahead of the game against Atalanta Bergamo on Sunday night. Kick-off at 20.45. He spoke of Inters chances, Wesley Sneijder and the injuries, along with much more.

I have immense respect for Atalanta,” Andrea Stramaccioni began in his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow evening’s match at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia.

He continued: “Atalanta have done superbly since the international break. Stefano Colantuano – whom I’ve had the opportunity to observe on many an occasion – is doing an excellent job. He’s managed to set up a solid, well-drilled side from a team that has six quality players from the midfield up, with no one who’s really specialised in breaking up play. They are balanced and compact. Without their points deduction they would be level with Roma. We respect them. It will be a testing game, with a very high difficulty level.”

Inter go into the match minus several players: “Inter are fired up. We haven’t been very lucky with injuries recently. We lost Mudingayi on Thursday and Cambiasso isn’t fully fit, though we’ll try everything we can to have him available for tomorrow. But all this must be extra motivation for us, not an excuse. Inter will be ready for this game regardless. We’re not worried, we’re fired up and we’ll cope without the absentees.”

“This year, in agreement with the team manager and the players, we have an internal regulation within the dressing room. It basically means that nothing should be written about the team unless it’s been authorised by the coach or the team manager.” That is how Andrea Stramaccioni replied when quizzed by journalists about Wesley Sneijder during his press conference.

“You know about Sneijder now but other players have been fined since the start of the season and others probably will be before the year is out. Mudingayi? He’s been fined for yesterday as well, because of the timing. I understand that getting injured when Inter are in their best form is a tough blow psychologically, but he made a small mistake in the timing,” the coach explained.

There were more questions about Sneijder with Stramaccioni being asked if the Dutchman is perhaps acting a bit like a prima donna. “Whether it looks that way from the outside or not, I can assure you that on the inside it’s not like that at all. I have an excellent relationship with Wes, I talk to him every day. He’s a top player who wants to get back to playing. He knows he can give us a hand, just as I know it. I have the utmost consideration for him. But then there’s the medical aspect: he’s been given the ok to start working on the pitch again. Now professor Rapetti is working with him and staying behind after the rest of the team have finished. We’re waiting for him.”

Source: Inter.it