Inter director Beppe Marotta piles more pressure on Barcelona by pointing out ‘tonight’s result is much more important for them than for us, so they will try a bit of everything’ to tip things in their favour.
It kicks off at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).
There has been a great deal of tension over the last week since Hakan Calhanoglu’s winner at San Siro, as Barcelona protested long and loud about the potential last-gasp penalty not awarded for handball.
“We feel the right tension for a situation like this, it is an important match for both teams, but the rapport with Joan Laporta is one of a long-lasting friendship and very cordial. We were given a warm welcome,” assures Marotta on Amazon Prime Italia and Sky Sport Italia.
“It is natural that the result tonight is much more important for them than it is for us, so they will try a bit of everything, including winding up the opponent. It must be counter-balanced and used as further motivation for us to get a positive result.”
If Inter win here, and Bayern Munich avoid defeat to Viktoria Plzen, then they will automatically be qualified for the Round of 16 already.
Considering this was the Group of Death going in, did Marotta and Inter expect to be in this situation?
“The Champions League is a tournament where one result can change the entire group. We knew that we were in a group with two teams who had superior ranking, as we were third seeds, but we prepared very well and will fight all the way.”
Andre Onana would now seem to be the consolidated first-choice Inter goalkeeper, pushing Samir Handanovic to the bench in both Serie A and the Champions League.
“It was always going to be a gradual introduction. First of all, we want respect for our captain Handanovic, then a goalkeeper needs to be introduced gradually in a new league like Serie A. Simone Inzaghi is doing that very well.”
Meanwhile, the Nerazzurri are in negotiations to extend the contract of defender Milan Skriniar, who is the captain this evening in Handanovic’s absence.
“He is a fine professional and captain, so he deserves to continue playing for Inter. If his desire is the same as ours, I think we can agree a deal. We want to reach a logical conclusion on an economic level, an agreement that would mean a multi-year contract for him.”