Andrea Stramaccioni is confident that the real Inter will turn up in Saturday’s Derby d’Italia against Juventus” data-scaytid=”3″>Juventus.
The Nerazzurri beat their great rivals 3-1 in Turin earlier this season, but they are now 18 points behind them in the table – albeit with a game in hand.
Andrea Stramaccioni is confident that the real Inter will turn up in Saturday’s Derby d’Italia against Juventus.
The Nerazzurri beat their great rivals 3-1 in Turin earlier this season, but they are now 18 points behind them in the table – albeit with a game in hand.
“We're going out to win the match and I'm sure Inter will put in a good performance,” the tactician stated on Friday.
“Some are saying that we have little chance of winning it, but we’ll try to use the fact that we are billed as underdogs as extra motivation.
“It will be an open game and could go either way. We'll approach it like we did in the reverse fixture, perhaps with a slightly different system, but we'll give it a good go tomorrow.”
The San Siro encounter will be worth much more than just the three points when you consider the club rivalries.
“This is a very important match, it means a lot,” he added. “From an Inter perspective, this game is unlike any other.
“Results show they're the best team in the League this season. But we want to show what we're about and this match is the perfect chance to do so.
“One of their strengths is the vim and vigour with which they approach games. They're excellent in the first half of games, we've focused a lot on this.
“We don't want to let them play how they want, nor let them set the tempo.”
After Juventus boss Antonio Conte refused to rule out a future at Inter, Stramaccioni seemed to close the door on a Juve spell.
“It’s hard to see myself on the Juventus bench, also because my coaching career is still young. Maybe in a few years time I’ll be somewhere else, but perhaps not there…”
In the meantime, Stramaccioni wants to stay where he is and he’s dismissed suggestions that he could be replaced by Jose Mourinho.
“The fans shouldn’t get their hopes up. I know the truth, I’ve spoken with the President.”
Stramaccioni says he has doubts over Walter Samuel, Dejan Stankovic and Fredy Guarin. The latter could be fined by the club after he missed his flight back from international duty.