Inter coach Simone Inzaghi has revealed that midfielders Nicolo Barella and Hakan Calhanoglu are playing through injuries in order to be available against Hellas Verona.
The Nerazzurri take on the Gialloblu at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Serie A this evening, with Calhanoglu starting in the centre of midfield alongside Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Roberto Gagliardini, whilst Barella takes a place as a substitute.
In an interview with Italian television broadcaster Sky Sport Italia before kick-off, and as reported by FCInterNews.it, Inzaghi confirmed that both Calhanoglu and Barella were still feeling the effects of the injuries sustained against Monza last weekend, when they were both substituted off.
“We have some problems in the middle, in the Coppa Italia (against Parma on Tuesday) we were struggling,” the former Lazio coach declared.
“Today Calhanoglu and Barella are available despite having small problems. Calhanoglu will start, with Barella we’ll see but there is also Kristjan Asllani.”
Inter required extra-time to beat Parma in the Coppa Italia, and must turn their attention to the Supercoppa Italiana against AC Milan on Wednesday immediately after the game against Verona, but Inzaghi refused to allow the fixture list to be used as an excuse.
“The calendar imposes these difficult games. We played 120 minutes on Tuesday, now we have to play this very important match and then we have the Super Cup.”
With Inter trailing league leaders Napoli by 13 points, the coach admitted that only victory against Verona would be sufficient to maintain any hope of winning the Scudetto.
“Yes, we look at ourselves and at the single game. We know we have many close games, we have to go from match to match trying to earn points,” he concluded.
A win for Inter would see them move level with Juventus in third place, and go just one point behind Milan in the table.