Football Italia
·6. November 2024
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·6. November 2024
Simone Inzaghi explains some of his surprising choices against Arsenal in the Champions League clash and why he has no regrets at turning down Premier League jobs. ‘I am very happy at Inter.’
It kicks off at San Siro at 20.00 GMT.
Neither side has conceded a single goal yet in three Champions League games and both are on seven points, so this is a real head-to-head for position and potentially balanced encounter.
“This is an important match, but I am relaxed. It’s going to be difficult and we will try to play in the best possible way,” Inzaghi told Amazon Prime Italia.
MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 04: The players of FC Internazionale celebrate as Federico Gatti of Juventus scores an own-goal during the Serie A TIM match between FC Internazionale and Juventus – Serie A TIM at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on February 04, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
With the Scudetto showdown against Serie A leaders Napoli coming up this weekend, the Nerazzurri decided to rest Marcus Thuram, Federico Dimarco, Alessandro Bastoni, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Nicolò Barella.
“We’ve had six very draining matches, so we have to take it one game at a time. We used up a lot of energy on Sunday against Venezia and everyone was available, so I had to make some choices,” explained Inzaghi.
“We also had problems recently that forced us to lay off the squad rotation, so the fatigue was building up with some players.
“Arsenal are one of the best teams in Europe, they know how to alternate between possession and working off the ball.”
The Gunners have been stuttering in the Premier League recently with just one point from three rounds and are missing injured Riccardo Calafiori, Declan Rice, Kiernan Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Ben White steps back in for Rice, the only change from the side that lost to Newcastle United at the weekend, and Martin Odegaard is on the bench for the first time since early September’s ankle sprain.
Inzaghi said in his press conference that he had opportunities to come to the Premier League as a coach, both when he was at Lazio and Inter, so why did he turn them down?
“There were opportunities in the past, I am very happy here and being at Inter is a victory in itself. I have a great club behind me, fans who are always with us and we’ve won a great deal. We don’t want to stop now.”