Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi hopes that his team can immediately qualify for the Champions League knockout rounds against Viktoria Plzen tomorrow.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the match, as reported by FCInterNews, the coach stressed that it will be much harder to secure a spot in the round of sixteen by beating Bayern Munich, whilst he also updated that striker Romelu Lukaku is getting close to his very best.
Inter will have a massive opportunity in tomorrow evening’s Champions League group stage clash with Plzen.
Four points taken against Barcelona has given the Nerazzurri a chance to secure their spot in the knockouts of Europe’s top competition with a match to spare if they beat the Czech champions.
Doing so will be far from easy, however, although it could represent a more straightforward chance than the following match against Bayern Munich.
“A team like ours, with the defenders we have and way we play out of possession which we showed last season, we have to improve.”
“The defensive phase is the responsibility the entire team,” he continued.
The coach stated that “Tomorrow we go into it knowing that we’ve played the past four matches in the best way possible, but this will be like a final.”
“We’re in a much more difficult group than last season,” he noted.
Inzaghi made it clear that “We know that we need to secure qualification tomorrow because it would be a lot tougher to do so in Munich.”
Of Lukaku’s fitness, the coach said that “If he confirms what he’s already shown in training over the past few days, he’ll be called up tomorrow.”
“He’s working with enthusiasm and desire,” he noted.
Inzaghi then said that “Today’s training is still to come, but there’s no question he’s getting back to his best, and he’s very important for us.”
He noted that “He was big loss for us for two months, but we’ve done well in attack during the period anyway.”
“Still, we can continue to improve, and we hope that we can do so with him back.”
When it was pointed out that Inter look much more defensively solid at the San Siro than they do away from home this season, Inzaghi admitted that “That’s a correct observation.”
“There’s a difference between the defense home and away, but last season there wasn’t.”
The coach stressed that “We need to keep working considering the goals that we’ve been conceding.”
“We had started to react when Fiorentina made it 1-2, but then Ikone scored a great goal,” Inzaghi stated, “although the third goal we conceded was one that a team like ours should never concede.”
Asked about the contract situation of defender Milan Skriniar, Inzaghi stated that “I’m lucky to have excellent directors who are currently working on it.”
“I’m also thinking about other players who have similar contract situations.”
“I hope everything can be resolved quickly,” he said of the Slovakian’s contract situation, “especially considering that Skriniar keeps getting better after he had suffered an injury in the summer, as the whole team is growing.”
“As far as his contract goes, I know that the directors are working hard and doing everything the resolve the situation,” he added.
Inzaghi reflected that “We as coaches are judged by results.”
“Tomorrow’s match is the only thing in my mind right now.”
“Qualification of the knockouts was the first objective for the season, and I always believed in it even if it looked far away when the group stage draw took place,” he noted.
“We hope to give this satisfaction to the fans and the club tomorrow.”
“We know how hard we’ve worked, we still need to take the last step though, and so we have to come out as a strong team,” he said.
As far as his players’ mentalities in view of the World Cup, Inzaghi said that “They appear calm to me.”
“We have seven players who will be going to the World Cup,” the coach added.
“Tomorrow we get Lukaku back, Brozovic is not yet back though.”
“The other five are all totally focused on Inter because they know they have to put in the best performances they can before the World Cup,” he closed.
