Mkhitaryan: "We'll need to play a perfect game"

RIYADH - The Supercoppa Italiana final against AC Milan is getting ever closer. Ahead of the game, Simone Inzaghi gave his press conference at the King Fahd International Stadium. Alongside the Inter boss, Henrikh Mkhitaryan also responded to questions from journalists:

Inter will contest this trophy after a brilliant run last season: how do you feel going into it? "We're ready. It won't be easy; we'll have to play the perfect game, as we did against Napoli two weeks ago and against Barcelona earlier in the season. We're taking on a strong side, but we're a good team as well." You're playing a lot; how do you feel? Are you ready for so many games in such a short space of time? "If I'm playing so much, it means that I'm in good shape. If I weren't ready, I wouldn't be playing; it wouldn't be good for the team. I'm 33 years old; I know that I don't have long left in my playing career but I'm hungry to play as much as I can and have fun in every game." It'll be your first final with Inter: are you pleased to be at this point? "It's the first and I hope it isn't the last. I want to play in more finals with Inter. I never regret my choices; when I went to Roma, my biggest aim was to win something and I did that. I now want to win trophies with Inter. This is the most important thing." How have preparations been for this trip? What do you think of semi-automatic VAR? "We're going through that final bit of prep now. We want to work as hard as possible. In terms of semi-automatic VAR, that's not something that we can control; we just need to do our best and then we'll see what happens." You've played in many top-level fixtures; how do you get in the right frame of mind? "I've played in a lot of finals but this is the first time that I have played a Supercoppa against AC Milan. It's definitely new for me but usually what matters in a game like this is to stay calm and pay attention to what you're doing. We need to focus on just playing our own game and keeping our concentration." You've won the Supercoppa equivalent in every country that you have played in. Are you a lucky charm? What has the derby in the league done to change you as a team? "I've won four Supercup titles and I hope to add a fifth now. It's important for my career and for the Club as well. We weren't at our best against AC Milan earlier in the season but we've played strong teams since and won. We want to play to our highest level tomorrow and win." AC Milan have struggled in recent matches; are Inter the favourites? "We're not the favourites; AC Milan's recent results aren't important. We just need to focus on ourselves; if we play like we know we can, nothing can stop us."