Inter coach Simone Inzaghi has admitted that he has a difficult decision to make, as he chooses two strikers from Lautaro Martinez, Edin Dzeko, and Romelu Lukaku.
The Nerazzurri overcame Udinese in Serie A yesterday with a 3-1 win, as Lukaku and Martinez were joined on the scoresheet by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and now turn their attention towards a critical match against Porto in the Round of 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday.
In an interview with Italian television broadcaster DAZN after the match yesterday, and as reported by FCInterNews.it, the former Lazio coach felt that it was a positive headache to have so many options to choose from in attack, but admitted it was difficult to leave one of his strikers out against Porto.
“I hope to have as many alternatives as possible. We played with many injuries and we did very good things, especially in Europe,” Inzaghi stated.
“With Brozovic and Lukaku the options became stronger, but a coach has to choose from time to time.
“It’s difficult to leave out Dzeko and Lautaro as well. That is the job of the staff, to choose the best team. Then at the end of the games you go with ‘if’, but you have to choose first with calmness.
“After matches it’s difficult to make predictions. Today was a match where we spent a lot physically, Udinese made us struggle. We’re two and a half days away from Porto, we’ll see and make choices for the good of Inter.”
Inzaghi admitted that the pitch at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza was causing issues for his team, and hoped that it could be resolved for the good of his team and co-tenants AC Milan.
“Clearly it is something that is bothering us at the moment, my club wanted to fix it as soon as possible but there is no time because we play every two and a half days between us and Milan.
“Last year there was this problem, now I know they are working on the pitch but there are some problems. Hopefully the ground can improve because both us and Milan need it.”
Marcelo Brozovic returned to Inter’s starting line-up after his recent injury, but Inzaghi insisted that this did not necessarily mean Hakan Calhanoglu would not continue to feature in a deeper role, whilst praising the Turk’s versatility and ability.
“He can do both because he has quality. I didn’t know whether to take off Brozo or Mkhitaryan who comes from so many consecutive games, while Brozo was in from the start for the first time today.
“We try to get them to their best, Calha can play as a midfielder and has done extraordinary things as a playmaker. So there’s no problem.”
Mkhitaryan issued a rallying call ahead of the match against Porto, declaring that Inter had no reason to fear anyone, and Inzaghi was impressed with the impact of the summer signing from Roma.
“It was an important message from a great professional who is doing very well, he is giving us a big hand. He’s been playing continuously since October and is growing day by day.
“He has to continue like this, like everyone else. Sometimes we can play him as a No. 10, we tried this in Malta in the training camp and he did very very well there too.”
Inter have closed the gap on runaway league leaders Napoli to 15 points, but have moved three clear of Milan in third place.
