Sinisa Mihajlovic takes on his former team in Wednesday's rescheduled Fiorentina–Inter and jokes, “it's easier to beat them now than a year ago.”
The Coach worked at San Siro as both player and assistant manager to Roberto Mancini.
“I hope Inter win the Scudetto, but tomorrow I want to win the game,” smiled the Serb.
Sinisa Mihajlovic takes on his former team in Wednesday's rescheduled Fiorentina-Inter and jokes, “it's easier to beat them now than a year ago.”
The Coach worked at San Siro as both player and assistant manager to Roberto Mancini.
“I hope Inter win the Scudetto, but tomorrow I want to win the game,” smiled the Serb.
“I think it's easier to beat them now than a year ago when I was in charge of Catania for two reasons. Firstly, Fiorentina are stronger than Catania and secondly last term's Inter were a complete squad, whereas now they have a few absentees.
“Tomorrow is a very important match against a great team that can give us a sense of consistency in our results.
“Winning would be wonderful and I hope to prepare for it well, but will try to stay out of the emotional sphere surrounding this fixture for me. I am concentrated and calm, so I hope the lads are too.”
Leonardo's Inter have been quite spectacular, but fell to defeats at Udinese and Juventus, while Fiorentina finally celebrated their first away win 4-2 at Palermo on Sunday.
“They lost two games on their travels, though every match is different. A side like Inter has everything it needs to win the Scudetto and their path goes through Florence. Failing to win here would make it all much more difficult for them.
“I know Inter well,” continued Mihajlovic. “We must stop them playing to their best, especially those three up front. Wesley Sneijder, Samuel Eto'o and Giampaolo Pazzini are very dangerous, as are those less visible talents.
“We've got to learn to watch our opponents when defending and not just the ball. Eto'o and Sneijder pass it quickly and then continue their runs, so we can't follow the ball. The same is true of crosses for Pazzini.
“I hope the best team doesn't win, because that would be bad for us…”