Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi feels that tomorrow evening’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich could be the opportunity for midfielder Kristjan Asllani to prove himself.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the match, as reported by FCInterNews, the coach also stated that he is hopeful that striker Romelu Lukaku can return from injury before the World Cup break.
Inter coach Inzaghi is likely to make some rotations to the team for tomorrow’s match.
One player who could be given the chance to step is Asllani.
Without the pressure of needing a result to qualify, the 20-year-old could prove his quality against top-level opposition in the German champions.
Asllani had appeared in the Nerazzurri’s Champions League draw with Barcelona, where the Albanian missed a golden chance to win the match late on.
However, Inzaghi stated that “That’s a moment he’s put behind him, Asllani is growing a lot.”
“Calhanoglu is doing well as a deep-lying playmaker,” he continued, “but tomorrow could be the right match for Asllani. Either as a mezzala or as a deeper playmaker.”
On the other hand, a player who is certain not to appear is striker Lukaku.
Of the Belgian’s condition, the coach said that “He had a bit of a problem with a recurrence of injury during Saturday’s match.”
“He’ll have to recover for a few days and then will be re-evaluated during the weekend.”
Inzaghi said that “We hardly needed to be without him here, he was starting to give us a lot since returning.”
“We hope to be able to have him back before the break,” he added.
The coach also noted that “Hopefully Brozovic can return on Sunday,” referring to Inter’s Serie A clash with Juventus.
Inzaghi also spoke about the injury to defender Danilo D’Ambrosio, stating that “We won’t have D’Ambrosio back available until after the break.”
Asked how he thinks the team have changed compared to their first match against Bayern this season, the coach responded that “We’re in better form, the condition of a lot of individual players has improved.”
“Tomorrow won’t affect the group, but it will still be a match in a beautiful stadium against one of the best teams in Europe.”
The coach noted that “We want play a serious match, knowing that we will have some struggles against a very strong team with a deep squad.”
Regarding the possibility of rotating the team tomorrow in view of Sunday’s match against Juventus, Inzaghi said that “We know how important Sunday’s match will be, I’ll rotate some but not too much.”
Asked if he would consider using Henrikh Mkhitaryan in attack given the Nerazzurri’s injury crisis in forward areas, the coach replied that “In attack Dzeko has a knock, Correa and Lautaro are in good condition and we have two Primavera players who can give us a hand.”
And asked who he’ll select in goal for tomorrow’s match, Inzaghi responded “Onana. Handanovic won’t be available, although he’ll be with us again when we return to Italy.”
