KIEV - "What do I want? I want to score a goal more than Dynamo. Nothing else." José Mourinho was crystal clear with his words on the eve of Inter's fourth match of Champions League Group F, which sees the Nerazzurri up against Ukrainians Dynamo Kiev. The Inter coach knows that Wednesday's clash at the Valeriy Lobanovskiy Stadium is fundamental in terms of qualification to the knockout phase, and he is confident and convinced that his team will get through the group stage.
"The most important match is always the next one, so it's not Sunday's one against Roma and it's not the one with Barcelona," Mourinho explained. "The next match for us is tomorrow night's one against Dynamo. It is an almost decisive match, because I don't think that one of the four teams can celebrate qualification tomorrow. However, we know that it is a very important match and we are focused on one result only. We want to win."
Dynamo coach Valeriy Gazzaev said his team is technically superior to Inter, but Mourinho isn't falling into any traps. "It's his opinion, you'll have to ask him the reason for his opinion," replied the Inter boss. "I am only concentrated on Inter and today I want to see if the five players that I currently have in doubt will be able to take part in the game. I will talk to them after dinner, face to face, me, them and the doctor, because who goes on the pitch tomorrow will have to be at one hundred percent, and because it's too important a match to have uncertainties in the hours before the match."
Those five players are Mario Balotelli, out with the flu since Inter-Palermo, Sulley Muntari who came off injured against Livorno, Thiago Motta who was unavailable for last Sunday's Serie A game in Tuscany, Wesley Sneijder who hasn't kicked a ball in two weeks, and Cristian Chivu who had a muscular problem between the first and second half against Palermo. "For all of them I need replies in the last training session," said Mourinho.
Replying to those who asked why Inter made bad starts to their matches against Rubin Kazan and Dynamo, Mourinho replied: "Our false starts are a false question. Two matches are too little for a proper analysis. There have been many matches that we have started well and finished well, and others that we have started well and maybe ended badly. So our only concern at the moment is to do everything we can to win tomorrow's match."
In recent days a lot has been said in the Italian and Ukrainian press about the influenza pandemic. Mourinho said: "I'm not a politician and I'm not a doctor so I can't give an opinion. Inter don't pay me to be worried, they pay me to win, with or without masks, behind closed or open doors. My attention tomorrow will only be on the match, which certainly doesn't depend on other situations."
The Inter coach said he isn't surprised by the situation in Group F after three matches. "The equilibrium in this group doesn't surprise me one bit," he said. "I knew it would be difficult, and match after match it has become the most difficult group because these are four teams that have won their respective championships. It will be a very important match for us tomorrow but it might not be decisive. It is our goal to get the three points because we are convinced we can get through the round."
