Some Changes For Inter This Weekend As They Aim To Go All Out In The UCL And Serie A

Written By Onyeka Daniel

Today, the draws for the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League was made and as the only Serie A representative left in the tournament, Inter Milan have been paired with Dutch club, Feyenoord, the same team that knocked out their city rivals, AC Milan in the playoffs.

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Ahead of the this encounter, Inter vice-president, Javier Zanetti has revealed that they will respect Feyenoord and further insisting that they can’t choose between Serie A and Champions League. The Nerazzurri finished the league phase in fourth position, losing just one game and conceding just once.

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Both were against Bayer Leverkusen, hence they finished level on 19 points with Arsenal, but the Gunners ended up in third position with a better goal difference. “Let’s say our journey so far has been excellent: now a knockout competition begins,” Zanetti told Sky Sport Italia after the draw.

“Feyenoord deserve respect for what they have managed to achieve. We will prepare for the matches as best as possible, and we have all the conditions to believe we can move forward. It largely depends on us.” They remain the only Serie A club still involved in the competition this season.

Atalanta, AC Milan and Juventus were knocked out by Club Brugge, Feyenoord and PSV respectively. “We always have significant responsibilities; we are Inter, an important team, and this competition is very prestigious. We will try to carry the Italian flag as high as possible,” said Zanetti.

They also remain in the race for the Scudetto, just two points below Serie A leaders Napoli, but they will visit the Partenopei just a few days before the first-leg game against Feyenoord. “We don’t have the luxury of choosing. We must aim to go all the way in both [competitions],” Zanetti said.

“Everyone wants to win the league, and we know what it means to win it. But then there’s the Champions League, we are the last Italian team to have won it, and we will always try to honour it and reach the final, just like two years ago. Competing in both is difficult, but our mindset is to go all the way. We can’t choose.” He further added.

Meanwhile, the team will be up against Genoa at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium this Saturday and there are reports that Simone Inzaghi could implement some changes, some of them forced as they look to stay relevant in the league, UCL and Coppa Italia. The first change we will definitely see is Josep Martínez in goal.

This is after it was confirmed that Yann Sommer has picked up a fracture in his thumb. The summer signing only has one appearance for the club, in the Coppa Italia win against Udinese in December and he is expected to be in goal for the next couple three to four games at least. Another change that we might see is Joaquin Correa possibly starting from the beginning against Genoa.

This is to give the other strikers some rest ahead of a busy schedule. Then finally, there is the possibility that the former Lazio manager might decide to give Hakan Calhanoglu a rest as he has been struggling since coming back from his latest injury.

In a related development, Piero Ausilio has revealed that the January transfer links between Marcus Asensio and Joao Felix and Inter Milan were just “agent talk.” The Nerazzurri Sporting Director addressed the transfer rumours speaking on Italian broadcaster SportMediaset.

He noted that the club “get a lot of calls” from agents.In the last few weeks there have been some transfer rumours linking Inter with a couple big name players. Firstly, there is Marco Asensio who left Paris Saint-Germain during the January transfer window.

The former Real Madrid winger joined Premier League side Aston Villa on loan. There were rumours, however, that Inter considered Asensio a target. Particularly if they were to have offloaded Marko Arnautovic and Joaquin Correa and sought a new attacker.

Meanwhile, Inter were also linked with Chelsea outcast Joao Felix before his transfer to AC Milan. According to Ausilio, a key architect of Inter Milan’s transfer strategy, there was little real basis for these links. “The rumours mainly have to do with the activities of agents,” he insisted. “When they have to get a move for a player they make phone calls,” Ausilio said pointedly.

“A lot of them. It’s normal when you have a quality player like Asensio or Joao Felix…” the Inter Sporting Director hinted. “I’ll get ahead of you. I’ll reply to the people who say that Inter had started negotiations for Joao Felix. That’s normal. They’re opportunities that appear on the market, and from agents.”

Ausilio said that agents “have to work, and also want to demonstrate to their clients that they’re committed to finding opportunities, and among all the phone calls, there are calls to Inter. We’ve always told everyone straight up that we’re fine the way we are,” Ausilio said bluntly.

“I just mention those two names as an example. Then maybe if we’d had players leave, it’s different story, but that applies in any position. We would have thought about what solutions there would be on the transfer market that would allow us to complete the squad the way we had in mind.”

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“Always getting back to the well-known idea of a squad with two players position. Absolutely competitive. We think Inter are already formed that way, and have been in the past.” He further added.

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