Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi isn’t expecting any players to return from injury for this week’s Champions League group stage match against Benfica.
This coach also explained the substitution of midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu speaking in a press conference after yesterday evening’s Serie A win over Salernitana, as reported by FCInterNews.
Inter’s victory over Salernitana was their third match in the space of less than a week.
But the Nerazzurri won’t have a great deal of time to rest and catch their breath.
Already on Tuesday of this week, Inter will be in action once again.
Inzaghi and his team face Benfica at the San Siro, in their second Champions League group stage match of the season.
One big question could be whether Inzaghi will have any extra players at his disposal compared to yesterday’s match.
Striker Marko Arnautovic certainly won’t return from his long-term thigh injury.
But then there are midfielders Davide Frattesi and Stefano Sensi. And wingback Juan Cuadrado also doesn’t appear to be all that far away from a return to the pitch.
But Nerazzurri coach Inzaghi isn’t overly optimistic.
Inter Coach Simone Inzaghi Not Expecting Returnees From Injury Vs Benfica
As far as whether he could get any players back to face Benfica, Inzaghi replied “I don’t think so, although there is some hope.”
The coach added that “With all the matches we’re playing so close together, Frattesi, Cuadrado, Arnautovic and Sensi would all be very useful for squad rotation.”
“We hope that we can get them back soon because playing so often isn’t easy.”
Of the squad rotation and substitutions against Salernitana, Inzaghi noted that “Looking at the data, the match where we ran the most was the one against Sassuolo.”
“Certain matches require a huge amount of physical effort. In this one, both the players who started and also those who came on as subsitutes did well.”
“Asllani came on and did well,” the coach added. “Calha didn’t ask to be substituted, but he was on a booking and Kristjan was ready.”
