Inter head coach has given updates on the Nerazzurri’s preparations for tomorrow’s Champions League group stage opener against Real Madrid at the San Siro.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the clash with the Merengues, as reported by FCInterNews, the 45-year-old explained that there is a good chance that defender Alessandro Bastoni will be able to appear in the match.
The Nerazzurri had to rotate their squad during the weekend’s Serie A fixture against Sampdoria, and many of their players will not have been at full fitness thanks to the international break, something Real will also have dealt with going into tomorrow’s match.
Bastoni missed the Sampdoria clash through a minor thigh injury but was confirmed yesterday to have recovered and now there are positive signs that he will be ready to make his full return by tomorrow.
Inzaghi is confident going into the match and believes that the Nerazzurri can have a positive Champions League campaign despite the disappointments of the past few seasons.
“What is past is the past,” he said. “We have a great opportunity to write a positive chapter for the present. It will not be an easy group but the wish is to progress.”
The coach went on, “I think experience in games like this is very important. We’ve known since the day of the draw that the group is not easy.”
“In addition to Real there are two other teams who will do everything to make life difficult for us,” he continued, “but we have recovered from the match in Genoa. We have a training session today and tomorrow morning’s session to prepare for a difficult match because we meet a team that has a great history, but we want to face them at our best.”
On his anticipation for tomorrow’s clash after a disappointing weekend Inzaghi said, “Sunday’s game left us with regret but we played the last twenty minutes with ten men and that’s where the games are often decided. Tomorrow we must be good in both phases.”
“With Modric’s recovery we know that Real dribbles well but can also play vertically,” he explained. “We need to be good at keeping possession of the ball and making them run a lot.”
On his experience in European competition Inzaghi said, “As a coach, between the Europa League and the Champions League, I am on close to fifty games.”
“It is normal that Ancelotti has more experience than me but for tomorrow we are preparing in the best way, playing with the bit between our teeth hoping to be the best on the day,” he went on.
“We meet a great team on the day,” Inzaghi explained, “but it will be great to make our debut in front of our fans on a stage like this. We only made our home debut on August 21, it’s been a long time and we want to play in front of our fans given that it will be a challenging match.”
The coach is aware that the Nerazzurri have not performed up to the standard expected in Europe since winning the Treble more than a decade ago and showed a desire to reverse this.
“We want to change the script not only from last year but from the last ten years in Europe, we have the goal of getting out of the group.”
“I will evaluate Bastoni in these last training sessions,” he said of the defender. “The boy wants to be there, yesterday he did a light session and in the next couple days will have to work a little more. There is optimism but we will have to see the response on the pitch.”
“We can always improve,” the coach said of his team’s performances this season, |but I think that in Genoa we were punished a lot for our numerical inferiority. Many times I try to preserve the eleven players on the field by removing players on ,yellow cards, unfortunately the unexpected situation of Dimarco influenced us otherwise I would have waited to use the last slot.”
“There is regret for the result because, objectively, for how we performed, we could have gotten more, it being understood that Sampdoria played an excellent match.”
On Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, Inzaghi said that “I think he is one of the most successful coaches in history. A great coach whom I have encountered many times in the past, when I saw my brother [Filippo Inzaghi] training [under Ancelotti for AC Milan] but also facing Napoli.”
“It was a pleasure to talk about football,” he said of the Real coach. “He gives a great organization to his teams, we know that the perfect match will be needed against a very strong team.”
On Real winger Vinicius Jr. Inzaghi said, “He is certainly in a great moment, but if you focus too much on him you might forget Benzema, Hazard, Rodrygo. They have a lot of talent and Vinicius will be one of the ones to watch.”
Of Real’s current level he stated that “They are organized. I focused on these first league matches, last year I didn’t see them a lot but with Zidane they won a lot in Spain and Europe. Ancelotti is a great tactician and adds great organization. We have to concede as little as possible to a team that can punish you at any time.”
Inzaghi closed by saying that “I think we have to think not so much about the past. We have the opportunity to write an important chapter for the present. As I said we will have to try to do our best in both phases of the game.”
