Inter Milan’s failure to beat city rivals AC Milan in three meetings this season will come as extra motivation when they clash in the second leg of their Coppa Italia semifinal, manager Simone Inzaghi said on Monday.
The sides shared the spoils in their first league clash in November while Milan won the other, before they played out a 0-0 draw in the first leg last month.
“The team is full of desire and motivation. We know how important this game is and what it means to the club and the fans,” Inzaghi told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s game.
“The three derbies have all been different. We played very well in the first two, whereas the two teams cancelled each other out in the last one, knowing that there was a second leg to come and the importance of away goals.”
Inter trail leaders Milan by two points in Serie A but Inzaghi stressed that their sole focus was the Coppa Italia, which they last won over a decade ago.
“It’s effectively a final… we’ll then need to do a good job of differentiating between the different competitions. The priority right now lies with the Coppa Italia tie tomorrow and then we’ll focus on Roma (on Saturday),” he said.
Striker Lautaro Martinez, who scored off the bench against Spezia last week, could replace compatriot Joaquin Correa in the starting line-up and partner veteran Edin Dzeko against Milan.
“In terms of choices, coaches always have doubts… there are two more training sessions before tomorrow’s game and I’ll try to make the right choices for tomorrow,” added Inzaghi.
“I have five fit strikers at the moment and they all deserve to play, but I have to make decisions.”
Juventus and Fiorentina meet in the other semifinal on Wednesday, with the Turin side taking a 1-0 advantage into the second leg.