APPIANO GENTILE – There’s always an extra edge to the pre-match build-up when there’s a Juventus v Inter match around the corner. Roberto Mancini is certainly no stranger to this fixture, and was under no illusions as to the importance of the match as he took questions from the assembled press this lunchtime.
"It’ll be a tough match because Juventus have been doing well in recent years. It’s a classic match in Italian football and, in these games, if you maintain your concentration you can beat anyone. We’re Inter – we’re a big club – and we play every match to win. We might not always end up on the winning side, but it’s important to have a certain mentality.
"Getting a result in such a big match would give the team a massive boost. When the time comes tomorrow, I don’t want to see a team that goes out onto the pitch thinking it’s an impossible task. I don’t think there is the distance between Juventus and Inter that the league standings of the last few years would seem to indicate," stated Mancini.
The Nerazzurri coach was then asked whether it would be more important to contain Andrea Pirlo or Carlos Tevez: "Pirlo is their best player. He has incredible quality and all their play goes through him. Tevez is a real fighter and is very dangerous on the attack. Having said that, we need to be wary of all their players, because Juventus are a great team. We’ll have to play the perfect match to win tomorrow."
There were then a series of questions about individual members of Mancini’s squad, including imminent arrival Lukas Podolski: "He’s not yet been able to train with us, but if the transfer does go through in time he’ll be on the bench. Palacio? He’s still carrying an ankle injury, but in my eyes he’s getting a lot better.
"Hernanes can play in any position across the midfield. The most important thing is that he’s fully fit and that’s not been the case in the last month. Vidic? He’s not been playing because of fitness problems. He’s improving now and may get some more chances over the coming weeks," explained the Inter boss.
It wouldn’t be January without a word or two on transfer business, and the inevitable questions soon arrived: "We needed two wide players and Podolski is one of them. He’s 29 years old and has a wealth of experience so I hope he can make a telling contribution to the team. Shaqiri is another who could do a job for us, but he’s a Bayern Munich player. He’s a young guy so it’s an interesting one for the future, too.
"Lavezzi? Look, he’s a PSG player and I think that’s a difficult one for us. I don’t know what’s going to happen, so let’s see. Susic is a young player with great quality – he has a big future ahead of him," concluded Mancini.
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LIVE! CONFERENZA STAMPA ROBERTO MANCINI PRIMA DI JUVENTUS-INTER 5.1.2015 H:12:00CET
