Simone Inzaghi believes the aggressive start and high press shown against Atalanta will also be ‘fundamental’ in the Champions League Final with Manchester City and hints Romelu Lukaku could start in Istanbul.
The Nerazzurri came flying out of the blocks to take a 2-0 lead within three minutes thanks to Lukaku and Nicolò Barella, while Lautaro Martinez made it seem comfortable again at 3-1 after the Mario Pasalic effort.
However, Luis Muriel’s absolute screamer in stoppages set up a tense finale in the eventual 3-2 victory at San Siro.
Nonetheless, a point would’ve been enough here to guarantee a top four finish and allow them to focus on preparing the Champions League Final against Manchester City on June 10.
“I am very happy, I congratulated the team because this evening was probably the most important of the last 18 in 47 days,” Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.
“We had 48 hours to prepare for Atalanta, we returned home at 5.30am on Thursday from the Coppa Italia Final, there should’ve been training, but I just sent the lads home to rest. They are doing everything for me, we blocked our ears to what was being said and worked hard.”
It was a very high press and aggressive start to the game, so could that also be the tactic used against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City?
“That will be fundamental. Now we must rest and recover, hopefully a few injuries too, as Mkhitaryan, Skriniar, Correa and today D’Ambrosio had knocks, but hopefully they will be available for the Champions League Final.
“We’ll see with Skriniar, he’ll start working with the team next week. Correa just had a little issue and we need to evaluate D’Ambrosio.”
Lukaku is in sparkling form and has that remarkable bond with Lautaro Martinez, so will he start against Manchester City instead of Edin Dzeko?
“We’ll see, there are still two weeks to go. We’ll make our choices, but they are always for the good of the team. The strikers all alternated in recent weeks, because playing every three days it was necessary.”
Inzaghi was also asked if he will change his fitness training over the next two weeks to prepare for Manchester City or if his analysts are making any particular lists.
“We all know Manchester City are the strongest squad in the world, they are the favourites, but we gave our all to get here and will give our all on the night too. They have 23-24 excellent players, so it’s not like you can just pick one or two to keep an eye on.
“To think where we were seven games ago in Serie A, we were able to secure Champions League qualification with a round to spare. I realise that qualification was probably more important than all the finals we’ve played lately.”
Playing against Manchester City, it’s likely that Andre Onana is going to be rather busy in Istanbul.
“He is a fantastic goalkeeper who immediately tried to make his mark every day. He is dividing the role with Samir Handanovic, who is not getting space in the Coppa Italia Final just because he’s the captain, but because he is a great goalkeeper and he proved that against Fiorentina too,” concluded Inzaghi.
“I knew Onana had a lot of experience, but is also a great person who has the right attitude, is positive and probably had to rest a few games where he wanted to play, but never complained.”