Spalletti: "All of our attention is on tomorrow's match"

VIENNA - Coach LucianoSpalletti today took part in his pre-match press conference for Rapid Vienna vs. Inter on Thursday: "Rapid are a team with character, they won in Moscow against Spartak on a pitch that I know very well. They made it out of a really difficult group. We congratulate them on this but at the same time we’re here to win.”

As for the situation with Mauro, Spalletti continued: “We have a crucial match ahead of us and it must receive all of our attention. It was a difficult and painful decision because we know his worth. However, we took it together with all of the club's components involved. It was done exclusively for the good of Inter. There are some things concerning the player that had to be sorted. For now, all our focus is on this difficult match.

“Tomorrow, we’ll have a striker who’s equally as strong. He didn’t receive his nickname of El Toro by chance. We’ll need him right from the off tomorrow and from him, like all of the rest, we expect the same kind of contribution that has brought us here in this competition.”