Today Simone Inzaghi made the traditional pre match press conference ahead Il Derby Della Madonnina which will be played tomorrow Saturday at 12:00 EST time.
The Deciding Match of the season?
When asked if this match will be the defining in expelling AC Milan from the scudetto race:
“No, there are still 45 points in game till the end of the season. However, it will be a very important match for the fans.”
In a Derby there are no favorites, he emphasized. Single episodes within the match could decide the result.
When asked about the intense schedule that Inter has in February he declared:
“It will be a very intense and stimulating period. We will face a lot of opponents of great prestige. Our boys are concentrated and are aware of our strength at individual level and as a team.”
Would a win for Inter be a show of strength looking at the fixture list?
“We know how things were when we started out in the summer. There were a lot of question marks but it all turned out well. We have plenty of incentive to keep us from lowering our guard. We’re trying to be responsible in our approach to the remaining months.”
Do you think the Milan side you’ll face tomorrow is stronger or weaker than the one you played earlier in the season?
“Last time we played them they were in great form, then they had lots of injury problems and results fell off a bit. Pioli is an excellent coach who gets his teams very well organized. The pitch had a bearing too and it’s been redone now. It’s going to be great to play the derby at San Siro.”
You haven’t rotated the team so much lately. Will you continue that in February, with all the big games you have coming up?
“It’s difficult to say beforehand. In January we had some very hard-fought games against Lazio, Juventus and Atalanta. We’ll see how much the games take out of us mentally and physically.”
Transfer Market
Inzaghi expressed his satisfaction with the work of the directors and the President. He said that for Gosens Inter will have to wait a little bit more for his complete recovery but he acknowledged he is an excellent acquisition.
Caicedo also trained with him at Lazio for three years. Also Inzaghi talked about the competition towards the scudetto. For him, Milan, Napoli, Atalanta and Juventus are still in the race. Juventus were his favorites at the beginning of the season and they have had an incredible winter mercato.
Inter’s Penalty Taker
In the last clash against AC Milan, Hakan scored a penalty but Lautaro missed the second one. A journalist asked about who will take the penalties this time. He repeated that there is a list of penalty takers led by Lautaro. However, Hakan, Perisic and Sanchez also could take penalties. He will evaluate in the last training. Also he said that Lautaro has started training with the group and that all South Americans are available to play. Only Correa and Gosens are missing due to injuries.
Stadium Capacity
When asked about the capacity permitted in the stadium he said that he would like to watch a derby with 70,000 people. But Inter must follow the rules. It was not the same with 75% of attendance in the last derby de Milano or with 50% in the Supercoppa final against Juventus. But the team is confident that sooner than later full capacity will return.
