UCL, Inzaghi: "We are confident. This is the most important game of our season."

On Tuesday 16 May at 21:00 CEST, Inter will face AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League 2022/23 semi-final second leg. On the eve of the match, Coach Simone Inzaghi held a press conference:

In August, after the groups were drawn, very few believed you would make it this far in the competition: what has made the difference in this journey?

Clearly in August there was some disappointment because we had not been lucky in the draw, but I said that Bayern and Barcelona were probably not happy to have Inter in the group either. But we were always confident in ourselves and now that we have come this far we know that tomorrow we have a great chance to go all the way to the final.

What is your message to the crowd to give you more impetus in a match like this?

I have already said it: tomorrow we need the fans who have been on this journey with us. We will have to stay composed, it's the only way to approach matches like the one tomorrow.

How are Lautaro and Correa?

Correa asked to come off, I wouldn't have taken him off because he was playing well, let's hope it's nothing serious, we will evaluate how he feels today and tomorrow. He should be fit, but we're not sure. Lautaro is in great form and is rotating with our other forwards very nicely.

Do you feel calmer ahead of the second leg?

As a coach I experience the build-up to games in the same way. Tomorrow is one of the biggest matches in Inter's history. We come into it with a deserved lead, we will come out and play to the best of our abilities.

What work have you done with Lukaku?

Both Lukaku and Brozovic have had setbacks this season and we were without them for five months. We did well in their absence, including the finals played without them. Lukaku has worked a lot and has had a brilliant spell. I hope he can continue to play as well as he has done in recent weeks.

How do you think AC Milan will approach the game? What do you think of the controversy surrounding the refereeing in the first leg?

I almost never talk about referees, sometimes I can't. If we look at the first leg, Krunic's foul on Bastoni should have been dealt with differently and then it would have been a different game. But it didn't and there is no problem with that. Just as there are no problems with the appointment of the French referee in whom we have complete confidence. We know that AC Milan are a dangerous team and we will have to be at our best.

From a tactical point of view, will you sit deeper given the lead you have?

You can never predict how a match will play out. There will be times when we will have to defend and others when we will be going forward. We are facing a team with some quality players, who won the Scudetto last year, so we have to be very careful.

How are you feeling about the clash personally?

We are 90 minutes away from achieving a dream and we have also reached the Coppa Italia final, my players deserve a lot of credit. We've hardly had time to breathe since the World Cup, we've played so many games. Five games ago in the league we looked miles off qualifying for the Champions League and now we are in a position to do so, we must make sure we do it.

How has Calhanoglu changed his game to play deeper in midfield?

We missed Brozovic and at that time I thought that Calhanoglu could be an alternative solution. Also Darmian as the third man in defence is doing really well and he had never played in that role. I'm lucky to coach players of great quality who know how to adapt to situations.

Do you feel like the outcome of the game will be decided by how you play, or how AC Milan perform?

We know that we are in very good form and we are ready for a match of such importance. We have already got through a game like this against a strong team like Benfica, with the exact same advantage. It will be a difficult match.

Is there a danger of thinking you're already in the final?

We know we have an advantage, but we have achieved nothing yet. We have to have effort, aggression and determination and with all that we can be confident. We have World and European champions and players who have played many finals. Everyone knows the value of this competition.

Could this match ruin what has been a good season so far?

Tomorrow's match is of great importance. It's been a difficult journey but we are still here and we want to keep going in this competition. We know that individual games can shape a season, but we know that it's a continuous fight and we are up for it. We have had criticism this season but it has helped us.

How have you managed to turn around the season?

First of all, the the work we do daily is vital. After the World Cup something clicked. The fixture list has been difficult to manage, but with everyone's commitment we were able to navigate it well.