Milan [Italy], May 10 : Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi wants his team to play to their best ability as they prepare to face their arch-rivals AC Milan in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League on Thursday.
Italy's local rivalry "Derby della Madonnina" - AC Milan vs Inter Milan will transpire for the first time in the UCL after 2005.
In their last encounter, AC Milan registered a dominant 5-0 victory in the UCL quarterfinals. But this time Inter will be looking for redemption. They would walk on the enemy turf with hopes of rewriting the story of their encounters which has always ended in the favour of AC Milan.
"Matches are all stories in themselves, we know the importance of tomorrow's game and we want to play it to the best of our ability, knowing that it will be an important step that has to be taken with skill, determination and aggression over 180 minutes," Inzaghi said in the pre-match conference as quoted by Inter Milan.
Along with skill, determination and aggression, the mentality will play a key role in front of the hostile home crowd of AC Milan. A crowd which makes you regret every single mistake you commit on the field.
"They feel well, we will need both our heads and our hearts in this game, I am not at all worried about their hearts, for the head it will be more difficult, there will be difficulties that we will need to overcome knowing that we are playing over 180 minutes."
AC Milan's Rafael Leao could turn out to be the game changer as he has proved to be in the previous rounds. Inter would be aware of the threat he carries and Inzaghi revealed whether they have a special plan in place for the Portuguese winger or not.
"We all know Leao's qualities, we know he might be there or might not, we will make some adjustments but it won't change our game plan. Against AC Milan we have won and lost. They are not just a counter-attacking team, they know how to play, they have very good dribblers and we will need to be good in all areas of the game," Inzaghi added.
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