As Yuto Nagatomo confirms he is fit to play on Tuesday, Javier Zanetti insists Inter’s priority is qualification first and securing first place in the group second.
As Yuto Nagatomo confirms he is fit to play on Tuesday, Javier Zanetti insists Inter’s priority is qualification first and securing first place in the group second.
Nagatomo and Zanetti were talking to the Press ahead of Inter’s preparations to face Turkish side Trabzonspor, a team that the Nerazzurri lost to on matchday one of the group stages. A win in Turkey will see the side secure qualification to the knockout stages of the competition.
Japanese full-back Nagatomo is back in the squad after a three-week lay-off with a calf injury and insists he is again fit for selection in Trabzon on Tuesday.
“I'm fine, I've healed. The important thing is to be here, to be able to make a contribution to the team. In the last two days I worked hard with my teammates.
“No problems, no pain. I wanted to return to play. We must win.”
Club captian Zanetti reiterated that final point as the Argentine also took time to warn of their opponents’ force.
“We will find ourselves facing a strong opponent, Trabzonspor. It's a heated atmosphere.
“We have experience from the first leg, a complicated match that we lost due to an incident. The first objective is qualification, and the second is first place in the group.”