APPIANO GENTILE – This weekend's match against Bologna coincides with a special birthday: FC Internazionale Milano is 105 years old today. That's where Andrea Stramaccioni started during his press conference on the eve of Inter's Serie A Week 28 fixture.
"I'm extremely proud to be able to coach this club. It's a dream for me," the Nerazzurri coach said. "Yesterday I saw the fans' show of support and it was a real boost for us. I think they realise what situation we're in and like true fans they got behind us. This 105th anniversary gives us a reason to be proud and it's important to have the supporters so close to us."
As for tomorrow's game against Bologna, Stramaccioni will be able to count on players who aren't available in Europe such as Kuzmanovic, Rocchi, Stankovic and Schelotto. "They'll provide us with some fresh legs and I'll go with the freshest players because it's going to be tough tomorrow, both technically and tactically speaking. I'll have a look at Ranocchia and Alvarez again this afternoon. We've done some recovery work with them. Ricky is improving, he could have scored against Tottenham and that might have changed everything. Ricardo has a key role to play in the new formation we've adopted. We'll have to see about Ranocchia. I've got three defenders and we'll decide who will play. Would [Bologna forward Alessandro] Diamanti fit into Inter's formation? He's a complete player who can play in the hole or in a 4-3-3 and he's got a fantastic shot on him. He's one of the best Italian players around at the moment."
The coach then reflected on the Europa League defeat to Tottenham and what could happen in next Thursday's return leg at the Meazza. "We'll do everything we can to turn it around, you can be sure of that. We left London with the feeling that we'd crossed paths with Tottenham just as they were on peak form, whereas we weren't at our best, but I still don't feel there was a three-goal difference between the sides. We'll take to the pitch with the aim of overturning the result even though we know it's going to be extremely difficult. We've got an important game tomorrow and we're concentrating on that first. It hurts a lot but we have to move on and focus on Bologna."
