Inter CEO Beppe Marotta (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Beppe Marotta has explained why Simone Inzaghi has decided to rest three of his key players for Inter’s Champions League round of 16 second leg against Feyenoord, has insisted that it is a difficult operation to sign Nico Paz from Como and insists that the Champions League is the team’s only focus despite a massive game against Atalanta coming up in Serie A.
The Nerazzurri have a 2-0 advantage against Feyenoord after the victory at De Kuip last week, which means they can afford to lose by one goal and still qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals.
You can follow the action as it unfolds on the Football Italia Liveblog.
Marotta on Inter changes, Feyenoord, Atalanta and Nico Paz
There are no Lautaro Martinez, Nicolo Barella or Alessandro Bastoni for Inter tonight.
Marotta explained the decision in his pre-match interview with Sky Sport Italia: “This is a round of 16 Champions League tie and we face a team that has put a lot of others in difficulty. We need to run an aggressive race.
“We’re not thinking about Atalanta, just about tonight Bastoni, Barella and Lautaro have played a lot lately, we need consistency from the boys. We know what we are doing, we know what our journey looks like. We want to be among the top eight in Europe.”
He added: “The team has awareness in facing all types of difficulty. We can’t be distracted by the result in the first leg, only high-level teams exist in the Champions League. We need to have respect but also confidence to get through to the next round.”
Marotta was also asked about the possibility of Inter signing Nico Paz from Como in the summer, but the Nerazzurri CEO explained that it is a difficult ask, and insists that transfers are not his current priority.
“I remind you that the player is from Como and Real Madrid have the right to buy him back. It’s a difficult route. He’s a high-level player, but we will talk about the transfer market later and not at this stage of the season.
“Van Persie (Feyenoord coach) was close to ‘my’ Juventus team, but then we went down different paths.”
