Interhead coach Simone Inzaghi believes that behind AC Milan in the semi-final of Coppa Italia First-Been, his team helped to cancel their performance during their 1-1 draw on Wednesday.
Tammy Abraham had put AC Milan ahead for two minutes in the second half, although Hakan Calhanoglu 20 minutes later answered the game stronger with internal.
“It was a derby. In the first half we could have been at the front with the De Vrij -Kans and the Frattesi movement, then Milan had that incident to lead them immediately after the restart,” Inzaghi told Sport Mediaset, as reported by Football Italia.
“I believe it eventually helped us, because then our second half performance was better than the first, we have created so many scoring opportunities against one side of Milan that is difficult to play against.
“I liked the performance of my players with many sacrifices. There were only 14 outfield players available, because Marko Arnautovic and Federico Dimarco were unable to get from the bank. I had a number of youth team players who were ready, so I asked everyone to push a little harder.”
This was the fourth edition of the Della Madonnina derby in all competitions this season, with Inter to win one after he had lost two and signed two.
But even with Lautaro Martinez, Mehdi Taremi, Denzel Dumfries and Kristjan Asllani all out of operation due to injury or suspension, Inzaghi suggested that their performance deserved more than a draw.
4 – Hakan Çalhanoglu is the #serie player who scored the most goals from outside the frameworks in all competitions in 2024/25 (four). Sniper. #Milaninter
– OPTAPAOLO (@OPTAPAOLO) 2 April 2025
“I saw the first goal, there was an incredible ricochet between Thuram and Frattesi, the ball hung in the right place for Abraham and landed at his feet. I got angry at the time, but then I saw what happened on the repetition,” he said.
“We had so many chances after that, Maignan made a number of excellent saves on Mkhitaryan and Zalewski.
“We knew that this was only the first stage, we hope to have more choices in three weeks. We will travel to Parma in 48 hours, so we could not take unnecessary risks with our players.”
Inter has five games to get through for the return bone, including a quarterfinals of the Champions League against Bayern Munich.
While the physical toll of the players is inevitable, Inzaghi burst of pride on how his players tackled the last busy period.
“We fought so hard to maintain everything in April, we played every match fully. My dream as a coach is to have all the players available.
“My players want to give everything for this sweater, it really makes me proud to be their coach.”
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