Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi expects that he could potentially switch to a 3-5-1-1 system against Barcelona tomorrow based on the personnel he has available to him.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the Champions League group stage clash, as reported by FCInterNews, the coach spoke about the tactical versatility with the different options that he has available.
Inzaghi only has two senior strikers available to him at the moment in the form of Lautaro Martinez and Edin Dzeko.
However, there are a number of versatile midfielders in the Nerazzurri’s squad, including the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu who have experience playing in attacking roles.
“Even the players aren’t sure what the formation will be,” the coach said, “I have my doubts.”
“I can change things up,” he continued, “I still have time to decide – I have two regular strikers, Dzeko and Lautaro, who have played 3-4 consecutive matches, and I could play Calhanoglu or Mkhitaryan as second strikers if I decide to bench one of them.”
Inzaghi then noted that “I have Carboni and Curatolo on the bench, injuries happen to everyone.”
“I would have liked for both teams to be complete instead of dealing with injuries, but that’s football.”
“A lot of the match will be decided by how we do out of possession, but we also have quality players who know how to keep hold of the ball,” Inzaghi continued, “we will have to try to be a little better in possession because we’re not playing at the San Siro.”
Of the importance of the match, the coach noted that “I said before the first leg that we had taken advantage of this opportunity, tomorrow we know it will be very important.”
“We knew that we’d have to do something extraordinary after the group we were drawn in, we’re fighting to make the knockouts with everything we have.”
“It will be tough, but we’re Inter and we’re going to try to play our game.”
“We will have to be good at suffering as a group, staying united, and then causing problems for Barcelona,” the coach added.
Asked if he is worried about any refereeing controversies, Inzaghi replied that “Usually I never talk about refereeing decisions, I only saw that the referees from last Tuesday have been assigned to matches again, UEFA must have judged their performances to be good.”
“We will have to all of our strength, aggression, and determination into this match,” he continued. “We did so on Tuesday and look what it got us.”
In response to remarks from Barcelona players and coaches that Inter play a defensive game, Inzaghi responded, “Absolutely not, everyone knows what Inter are all about.”
“We gained recognition for playing good football around Italy and around Europe for months, and then last week was a unique moment, we had come into it after two losses.”
“I was happy with what I saw from the team in the first half, and then in the second half we dropped into a lower block and all suffered together.”
Of last week’s win over the Blaugranas, Inzaghi said that “I’d say that much of the credit belongs to Inter, I saw their match against Mallorca, and against Celta, Barcelona have always been playing good football, even in European defeats.”
“We know that at San Siro we allowed them little, objectively Onana didn’t have to make any huge saves.”
“Tomorrow will be different,” the coach then said, “the stadium will be hot, we will have to be a team despite not having the same support from our fans.”
“Each game has a story of its own,” he went on, “Barcelona didn’t deserve to lose in Munich for example.”
“In the first leg we had a great match playing as an aggressive, compact, and determined team,” he went on.
“I would have liked to play at San Siro again, but we’ve prepared for this match to try and play like the best possible Inter.”
Of keeping the players calm amid pressure, the coach said that “In my squad I have players who are used to it, they have experience, we’re a mature team.”
“We know that there will be moments where we have to suffer and others in which we will have to be fluid with possession.”
He added that “We have to play a careful match, and focus on the details.”
“Barcelona will put in a lot of crosses, we will have to be good at marking inside the area,” the coach continued.
“We expected that this wouldn’t be an easy group, but we can do our best after getting six points already.”
“Ten points could be enough,” he said of the struggle to qualify for the knockout rounds, “we face the game as if it were decisive.”
