Inzaghi: "We need to understand the moments of the match"

It's the eve of the Coppa Italia, and it's the eve of the derby. 

At 21:00 CEST on Wednesday, Inter Milan will face AC Milan at San Siro in the first leg of the semi-final tie between the two sides, with the return fixture scheduled for 23 April.

Ahead of the match, Simone Inzaghi gave his thoughts in his pre-match press conference:

Everyone would love to play in these matches, how important is it to have such a united group when making your selections? 

"We know that tomorrow's match is very important: it's a Coppa Italia semi-final against AC Milan, a derby. We really want to put in a great performance against a high-quality side who have caused both us and other teams a lot of problems this season."

Are you looking for revenge? Will Sommer or Martinez play? 

"As regards who will play between the sticks, I've made my choice, but I want to communicate it to the players first. Compared to Sunday, we’ll have Bastoni but not Asllani. We'll need to assess De Vrij, and Taremi won't be available. This season, we've encountered some difficulties, especially in the first derby; the others were balanced and decided by certain episodes. Tomorrow will be the fourth derby, and then there will be the fifth: we'll need to be very careful in reading decisive situations."

How are you managing energy levels? 

"Our big objective was to be in the running in all competitions at the beginning of April. When you're Inter, you can't set limits: it's a great source of pride. Our commitments will drain us physically and mentally, but that’s what we wanted. Every match is equally important."

Could it be a risk to start Thuram? 

"Taremi's setback on international duty was unfortunate: tomorrow, we'll have to play with three forwards available to us. It’s likely that a Primavera striker will be part of the squad, and he'll play fewer minutes for them today. We'll see between today and tomorrow who is in the best position to produce the strongest possible performance."

Inter Milan always start strong: given the issues, are you thinking about this match from the perspective of a two-legged tie? 

"Certainly, we know it will be a 180-minute challenge; it's not a league match. However, our approach remains the same: we want the team to take to the pitch in the strongest way possible, although that isn't always a given."

Do you have a plan to get Lautaro back fit? 

"He's working well, and we want to have him available for Saturday's match in Parma, but we need to take it day by day. Lauti is doing well and working hard, and he always wants to be available. We hope he'll be ready on Saturday. However, at the moment, we can’t be certain of that yet."

Can the drop in performance in the second half against Udinese be put down to a mental issue? How can it be rectified? 

"We need to try and avoid managing matches, even though it’s not easy. On Sunday, we were exceptional in the first half but didn't approach the second 45 minutes well. However, until the goal, we didn't give much away. After they made it 2-1, we lost our composure, but a team like ours needs to know how to manage the moments and understand that a team like Udinese can create problems. Inter must always try to play football; we’ve always done that, and it’s our prerogative."

Is there a risk that the three previous encounters with AC Milan will weigh on the team? 

"Previous matches don’t go onto the pitch. We've had ups and downs against AC Milan. We played very well in the first half in Riyadh, but less so in the second. We could have done better in the league, but we need to know how to manage the unexpected moments in a game and respond in the best way possible."

What are you expecting from AC Milan? 

"I think AC Milan are strong and full of quality. We’ve watched their last match, the derbies against us and their match against Real Madrid. They’ve had difficulties this season, but, in terms of individual matches, they’ve caused problems for everyone. AC Milan, like Inter, want to win over two legs to reach the final in Rome."

How important was last season's Scudetto derby for the following months? 

"That match will remain in our hearts, it was unforgettable. It gave us immense joy, but past matches don’t go onto the pitch. Tomorrow, we’ll have the first leg with AC Milan as the home side, and then we’ll play in front of our fans in the return leg. It'll be important to be organised and determined."

Was the match against Udinese a turning point for Frattesi? 

"Davide has been in good form in recent weeks. He came back from international duty, did well in training and produced a fantastic and intense performance. He had a small issue with his foot and I had to substitute him, but we hope everything is fine, especially as we won’t have Asllani tomorrow and Barella will be missing on Sunday. Yesterday, recovery work was done. Frattesi seemed fine, but we’ll see how things go in training both today and tomorrow."

As regards the Primavera players, have you made a plan with Zanchetta to try and balance workloads? 

"I have great synergy with Zanchetta. Today, they have a very important match, and we hope that they come away with a victory. Berenbruch and Aidoo have remained here, and the attacker who players fewer minutes today will be with us tomorrow. Berenbruch is doing well and has already made his debut. He knows that with our current situation in midfield, he might get his chance."

Arnautovic is performing really well: what could that mean for his future? 

"I can't tell you what will happen, but you know I trust and respect Marko. I really wanted him here; he's a quality player and has given a lot. He hasn’t played as often as he did at Bologna, but he's responding well. We'll see how things go from now until the end, and we'll think about his future once the season is over. Marko has been lending a huge hand to the entire Inter family for a year and eight months, not just in the recent period."

Would you bench Leao? 

"He's a great player, but I don't think we should only focus on Leao. AC Milan have many excellent players who are capable of causing problems in various situations."