Inter coach Simone Inzaghi feels that he and his players will need to find the right attitude and mentality to match their spirit in this evening’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg match against Benfica.

Speaking to InterTV ahead of the match, via FCInterNews, the 47-year-old emphasized the team not losing their heads and managing the match properly as they prepare to play one of the most important matches of their season.

It would be all but impossible for Inter not to feel the pressure of their situation ahead of this evening’s match at the Estadio da Luz.

The fact that a place in the semifinals of Europe’s top club competition is up for grabs would already lend the match massive stakes in any case.

However, the recent crisis in form that Inter have been enduring in the league makes getting the right result against Portuguese high-flyers Benfica all the more important.

“We know how important the match we’re playing [this evening] is,” Inzaghi said, “we know we’re up against a strong side who’re unbeaten in the Champions League, and who eliminated Juventus and finished ahead of Paris Saint-Germain.”

“We’re up against a top-class opponent, but at the same time we’re aware of our own strength and want to play a great match,” the coach went on.

Of what he’s expecting from Benfica, Inzaghi said that “Benfica have great technical quality, they have numerous top-quality players.”

“They’re very good at occupying space on the pitch, they can alternate between phases of intense pressure with periods where they sit back and try to wait on the counter,” he continued.

“We know that right now we’re in the middle of a packed fixture list, we’ve done the best we can to prepare a great match,” the coach said.

Of the need to stay switched-on over the entire two-legged tie, Inzaghi said that “That will certainly be a fundamentally important aspect, both the head and the heart.”

“This team has always put our hearts into everything,” the 47-year-old said, “and right now we need our heads as well.”

“We’re coming into this from a period where all the individual episodes have seemed to go against us,” he said.

“We have to be stronger than those moments, and we have to keep working as a team,” the coach said.