Inter Coach Simone Inzaghi: “We’re Still Licking Our Wounds After Serie A Defeat Against AC Milan”

Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi feels that his team still have a feeling of frustration with their city rivals AC Milan after losing 2-1 in the league derby at the beginning of February.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset following his side’s goalless draw with the Rossoneri in the Coppa Italia, the coach explained that he and his players still feel the frustration of that loss even now after facing their rivals in the cup.

Neither Inter nor Milan were able to find the back of the net in a match which saw the Rossoneri dictate the tempo in the first half with their high press but miss several decent opportunities, while the Nerazzurri started to look somewhat more composed in the second.

Neither side looked at their best, though Inter in particular looked off the pace, with their sense of bad form continuing as they failed to create any really telling opportunities.

Now, both sides will look towards the second leg next month as a crucial match in their seasons, and the sense is that the ongoing back-and-forth between the pair is far from over.

“I think the draw is fair,” the coach said, “the matches must be be looked back on. We’re still licking our wounds over the derby which we lost 2-1, where we would have deserved a lot more based on the pitch.”

“I think it was a less spectacular derby than the other two,” he added, of the two league meetings. “There is a lot up for grabs, the teams didn’t let themselves get stretched.”

“Anyway, we’ll think about the return leg in April, we want to get to the final to win another trophy, keeping in mind that this was our 36th match, we’ve played a lot. We have to get back to our best, but we’re working.”

“I have to look over the match,” Inzaghi said of his side’s tactical display, “but I think that apart from one Handanovic save we didn’t take many risks.”

“Romagnoli took a certain goal away from Dzeko,” he added. “We haven’t scored in four games, it’s noteworthy, but I’m convinced that we’ll be back to scoring soon.”

“I think it’s a physiological decline,” the coach added. “We’ve played a lot, we’re in a moment where we’re not playing as we had been.”

“In the league derby we did very well but lost,” he added. “This time it was less spectacular, but the final is still up for grabs and both sides want to reach it.”

“The matches are made up of episodes,” he went on, “tonight it was not a derby with much action due to the stakes involved.”

“We’ll try to recover our physical and mental strength,” he continued, “it isn’t easy but we wanted to reach the knockouts of the Champions League and the Coppa Italia semi-final with all our strength.”

“I think it’s a record to play our 36th match by March 1,” the coach added.

Asked about the form of Nicolo Barella, he said that “I wouldn’t look at an individual player, I’d think about the team in general.”

“We’ve gotten two important players back in the form of Correa and Gosens, who will give us a lot in terms of squad rotations.”

“And many players have pushed hard,” he stressed, “we are in a moment of transition but we’re working.”

“The last match was a fair result, against Sassuolo we ran a lot and didn’t do very well,” Inzaghi added. “Tonight was a fair draw.”