Inter against Liverpool are looking for the perfect night Inzaghi: “No fear”

MILANO

After interrupting Inter’s ten-year absence from the Champions League knockout phase, Simone Inzaghi is targeting the end of another fast with an extra year in duration. The Nerazzurri have not passed the round of 16 of the competition since 2011, from the feat of Munich against Bayern centered by a formation still full of Treble heroes.

To advance to the quarterfinals, however, the Italian champions must climb one of the most difficult football mountains to climb on the European scene: Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. First appointment tonight at San Siro (9pm on Amazon Prime, simultaneously Salzburg-Bayern). While Inter was living away from the spotlight of the Champions League, Liverpool won an edition and played in a final. The Reds, who dominated the group, are used to playing these European matches. The experience of Inter players in the knockout phase of the Champions League is much more limited. Perisic (the only one to have won it with Bayern), Vidal (substitute for the suspended Barella), Dzeko and Sanchez know it very well. The Chilean striker, however, should initially start from the bench. It is Lautaro who has the advantage in the second round to join Dzeko. He had some contact with the Calhanoglu round of 16 when he was at Bayer Leverkusen. And other Nerazzurri, who will not be protagonists, such as Kolarov, Correa and Gosens.

Inzaghi asks his players not to make a mistake without losing the vocation to control the maneuver. Only with a perfect performance is it possible to reverse the prediction: «We face one of the strongest teams in the world – says the coach – we will try to do our best. I don’t want my parents to be distorted, we will have to try to impose our game. Let’s not start off beaten ».

At his side, in the press conference at Pinetina, there is Hakan Calhanoglu, a decisive element in the Inter offensives. The team expresses itself best when the Turkish is inspired: «We did well with Real Madrid in the group. But we wasted too many scoring chances. With Liverpool there will be two or three. We will have to be more concrete, ”says the former AC Milan player.

Klopp’s words can fuel the self-esteem of Handanovic and his teammates: «We know we have to play against an incredibly strong team. Probably the best in Italy », explains the German coach with his overwhelming good humor. Liverpool have already won at San Siro this season, in December against Milan in the last match of the first phase, which canceled the Rossoneri qualification dreams. Now the stakes are increasing. Against Inter who, after returning to excel in Italy, want to regain degrees of European nobility. –