MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi is not treating their Champions League game at Manchester City on Wednesday as a rematch of last year’s final.
The Serie A winners were beaten 1-0 by Pep Guardiola’s side in the 2023 final, but Inzaghi is adamant that changes to the Champions League format and the fact that there is much less riding on the result make it very different to their previous encounter.
“Tomorrow starts a new Champions League, that will be very different,” the Inter boss told a press conference on Tuesday.
“I re-watched (the final) a month ago when we were in training camp. I don’t think it’s a rematch because it’s not a final, it’s a group game in the new Champions League format.”
Inzaghi was enthusiastic about the changes to the format, with clubs playing eight matches in a 36-team league phase instead of the previous group stage.
But he said he was also aware of the burden on players from the amount of games they will now play after City midfielder Rodri said players were on the verge of going on strike.
“We know that you play a lot and we coaches are aware of that. I can say that preparing these games for a coach is beautiful and exciting.
“I know there are problems, but we are counting on getting through. I will have to alternate as many players as possible, today we are without (Federico) Dimarco and (Marko) Arnautovic, but we have been used to having a sometimes limited rotation for two years now.”
The manager added that he was pushing his team to be aggressive and determined with City having not lost at home in the competition since 2018.
“We will need a lot of components to make a great match,” he said.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Toby Davis)
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