APPIANO GENTILE - Andrea Stramaccioni discussed the fitness of some of his players during his press conference earlier: "Stankovic picked up a knock in this morning's training. Nagatomo played his last game against AC Milan, he came back into the squad yesterday, trained today, and now I'll weigh up whether to have him on the bench or not, but he's not fit to play. Cassano is fit, very much so, if word hadn't come out about our little exchange of views, we wouldn't be talking about anything. I'm sure he's going to get the best out of Inter tomorrow with a great performance. Samuel is our only real doubt, I'll make a decision on that later tonight or tomorrow morning. His experience would be very useful, because if he says he's ready, he is, but there'll be a question mark on that one until tomorrow morning. Palacio looks a bit worn out: aside from the energy he's spent, there's also the climate in La Paz, he's tired but he's Palacio, and tomorrow he'll do overtime and will play really well."
From questions over the physical state of his players, to a forthright word on the ability of a player like Mateo Kovacic: "He's a player that we, that I, really wanted. With him we'll build the Inter midfield in the near future. He's very serious, very humble and I think he's showing he's worth a place in the starting eleven. I think we should keep an eye on him but you need the courage to trust him in big matches like this one."
