Massimiliano Allegri insisted he’d make the ‘same choices’ while Simone Inzaghi praised his players after seeing Inter reach their second consecutive Coppa Italia Final.
The Nerazzurri beat Juventus 1-0 at San Siro in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semis, qualifying for the Final for the second season in a row.
It will be played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on May 24 against Fiorentina or Cremonese who will meet at the Stadio Franchi in Florence on Thursday. The Tuscans won the first leg 2-0 in Cremona.
Juventus only produced five shots on target against the Nerazzurri on Wednesday with no centre forwards in the starting XI. Dusan Vlahovic and Moise Kean were unavailable, while Arek Milik initially went on the bench with Angel Di Maria and Federico Chiesa up front.
During a post-match press conference attended by Football Italia, Allegri said he’d make the “same choices again.”
“Milik had played 90 minutes against Napoli after a long spell on the sidelines,” explained the Bianconeri boss.
“With Vlahovic and Kean out, I wouldn’t have options [on the bench] if the game would have gone to extra time. We wanted to make the most of spaces for Chiesa, but Inter defended well.”
Juventus have only won one of the last seven games across all competitions, scoring only four goals.
“We have to improve in attack. We are sorry for the Coppa Italia because reaching the Final is always nice. Now we have the final 20 days of the season and we need 72-73 points to finish in the top four in Serie A. We must bounce back stronger and with more anger.
“We ended the game well physically, but we were not strong enough at the beginning. We were sloppy and they were more aggressive.”
There was clearly an opposite mood when Inter coach Inzaghi showed up in front of the media. The Nerazzurri have reached their second straight Coppa Final under the Italian tactician who praised his players: “It was a great night, we celebrated with our fans. They’ve always supported us and sometimes got angry when we suffered avoidable defeats.
“We are working hard, I had seen a focused team after the game against Empoli. The approach was excellent, we strongly wanted to win this game, we want to play more Finals. We have granted Inter a place in the Supercoppa for next season, playing Finals must be a habit for this club.
“We have reached another Final, we experience Finals and games and we want to continue doing them.”
Nicolò Barella and Hakan Calhanoglu ended the match limping, but Inzaghi hopes they’ll be available for the next Serie A match against Lazio at San Siro.
“It was muscle fatigue, but doctors reassured me. We must wait 24 hours, but they should both be available for the next match.”