Inter Milan coach Simone Inzagi cannot guarantee that Marcus Thurm will start in a clash with Barcelona in the Champions League tomorrow.
At a pre-match meeting via Fcinternews, the 49-year-old admitted that the French star may not start the game.
Intel meets the runaway Laliga leader of the troubled spirits after losing three domestic equipment on the spin.
Certainly, Thuram’s absence derailed Inter’s firepower, resulting in a terrible three-match scoreless run.
However, when the French return to fitness, the ruler Scudetto holders try to confuse the Catalan apple cart.
Despite Inter’s recent slump, they stand out at the top tables in Europe this season.
They were unbeaten in all other matches, except for a 1-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen in the league stage.
Plus, they hold eight clean sheets and one shutout from comparable to Italian records.
Inter Milan’s Simoneinzagi doesn’t know if Marcus Torrum will start Barcelona
Marcus Thuram recovered from a minor adduct wound and boarded the plane along with the other teams.
However, the 27-year-old lacks match fitness. This means that medical staff will need to reassess their condition before a game.
“I know about the lineup,” insisted Inzagi. “The work shows good signs, but we will be able to see it tomorrow after a pre-match warmup.
“We thought we had him against Rome too, but that didn’t happen. Tomorrow will depend on how the players feel.”
“It can be used by anyone other than Pavad.
“Without him I have not only Bisek and Dalmian, but also de vrij.
“Dumphries could start from the beginning and we really missed him.”
Meanwhile, Inzaghi has confirmed that if Mehdi Taremi or Marko Arnautovic does not make the Start Xi, he will occupy Thuram’s position.
“If Thuram doesn’t play, I’ll choose between Taremi and Arnautovic,” he admitted.
“I don’t think anything will change tactically. I’ll see how Thuram is doing and who plays.”
Additionally, he discussed Federico DiMarco’s fitness status.
“He’s fine, both him and the team,” Inzagi continued. “We went towards Bayern, Europe’s most physical team.
“I was injured because the Champions League is more demanding, and Barcelona and Bayern were also injured.
“The last two games shouldn’t mislead us. DiMarco had problems locking him out, but he recovers and starts tomorrow.”
Rough patch
Simone Inzagi recognizes the difficulties of the situation and tries to encourage his team to bounce back.
“Four years later, the boys have been doing extraordinary things, but last week they won’t erase it.
“We’ve come this far. It’s been an exciting season so far. We should have done better in the last three games.
“But we’re still competing for all our goals, even if we say it’s difficult to even finish in Italy’s top four.
“You’ll never hear me talk badly about boys or clubs. With them and the fans, we were able to achieve these things.
“We exceed our most optimistic expectations.”
Asked if this was the worst crisis since he joined the club in 2021, Inzagi offered another opinion.
“It’s hard to call it the most difficult moment when you’re in the Champions League semi-finals,” he added.
“We had a tough week and we need to do more, but tomorrow we are playing one of the most powerful teams in the world.
“It requires a sacrifice-filled match, and there are a lot of different materials coming up on top.
“Ambition must always be there, and I don’t know how that will end.
“The league is no longer in our hands. In the Champions League, we are in the semi-finals, but the boys are giving it everything.
“We haven’t been positive this past week, but the team will move on to this game and hold a big resolve with Heads High High.”
Difficult tasks
Inter locks the horn on the Barcelona side, which flies high through the corner, and he heads to the minutes in a buoyant mood.
In fact, the Catalans beat Real Madrid to Copa del Rey Glory last weekend.
Therefore, Inzagi recognizes the gravity of future tasks.
“We know Barcelona,” he commented. “Flick has brought us a great organization, they are a very offensive team and all midfielders are top class.
“This is a team built over time through the Youth Academy. They have credited it. They have won two titles and scored over 150 goals.
“They are competing for two more trophies, and we respect them to the fullest, but we have no fear.
“We have a lot of great opponents in the Champions League.
“We’ve had an outstanding run and we want to play these two matches as real Inter.
“Everyone has their own philosophy. Bavaria is different from Barcelona in a way.
“But we need to put everything on the pitch, and we know that we need to be very clear because it will be a constant match of decisions.
“Both teams have played a lot of games, and over this day and a half we prepared a very organized performance through video analysis.
“We need to die and clean to avoid their press. We have to protect as a team if necessary. We need everyone.”
Additionally, Inzagi admits that Inter endured a week of morale.
“We have a tough week, and this doesn’t erase the work we did, but we know we had to do better.
“We analyzed what happened in the last league match, but when it comes to commitments, the boys give it everything for the shirt.
“On Sunday, after the game, Curva joined the player in a tough moment.
“People understood how much the team gave in the second half.”
The scary opposition
Despite Barcelona’s surprising form, Inzagi claims Inter is on par with Camp Know’s heavyweight.
“The four semi-finalists are credited here,” he was stubborn. “Barcelona just won the Copa del Rey and we just had a very tough week.
“The mood is different, but the team has worked hard on video analysis. We’ll try to perform great.”
However, Inzagi was forced to praise Barcelona’s famous Ramasia.
“We must congratulate Barcelona’s youth academy for their work,” he said.
“They have consistently developed great talent and Yamal is a unique talent in the world.
“He plays great and is very useful for the team.
“He will be in the service of the group and tomorrow he will be under special observation.
“Of course, everyone else is being closely monitored by my players too.
“It’s a team that’s built over time. We did well against them three years ago, but you still could see an already great team being formed.
“They are technical players and they play beautiful football.
“Even in 2022 they had great coaches like Xavi, but now they have flicks. They bring a strong organization like early in his career.”
