Inzaghi: "A cagey affair. The draw is right"

MILAN – Simone Inzaghi admitted a draw was ultimately the right result as caution prevailed in the first leg of Inter and AC Milan's Coppa Italia semi-final tie.

"It wasn't the most spectacular of derbies but there was a lot riding on it and we mustn't forget this is a 180-minute match,” the coach explained after the 0-0 stalemate.

“The draw is a fair result but we'll need to win in April now because we want to reach the final and win another trophy.

“We've had lots of games and we need to rediscover out spark but we're working on it. We still have the best attack. Going four matches without scoring obviously creates headlines but we'll soon be scoring again. 

“I think it's only natural for us to drop off a bit now. We were going full throttle in November, December and January. We're not playing as well as we were. In the recent league derby we played really well for 75 minutes and ended up losing and we're probably still licking our wounds.

“Neither side was particularly sharp today. Moments decide matches and tonight was a cagey affair. The high stakes didn't help either because everyone wants to be in the final.

“We're trying to recover our physical and mental strength and we shouldn't be looking at the performances of individual players, It's not easy when you're playing so many matches back to back. I think it's probably a record to have played 36 games by 1 March and still have one in hand, but we wanted to keep challenging on all fronts. We have [Robin] Gosens and [Joaquin] Correa available now and they'll be able to help us.”