Luc out Spurs
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE INTER CHIEF: TOTTENHAM HAVE NO CHANCE UNLESS THEY RAISE THEIR GAME
INTER MILAN coach Luciano Spalletti has taunted Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, saying: “You’ll have to raise your game to beat us.”
The north Londoners head into Wednesday’s crunch Group B clash needing to win to keep alive their slim chances of reaching the last 16.
Harry Kane’s last-gasp goal against PSV Eindhoven has kept Spurs in the hunt, but the Serie A heavyweights have the matter in their own hands.
Even so, Inter boss Spalletti has raised the stakes before the decisive showdown at Wembley, by insisting that by playing their normal game, the Italian side will progress. Inter have a run of five matches that will have a huge bearing on the outcome of their season.
After Spurs, they face Roma, Juventus and their final match of the group against PSV.
Confirming the importance of the run, Spalletti said: “A big chunk of our future – and our league position will be determined by these games.
Inspire
“But our development shouldn’t only be considered on these few results. We rate whichever opposition we come up against.
“However, Inter always inspire the opposition. That means they have to go up a level compared to their normal performances.
“With us, we have no specific approach for one team or another. We have got to perform as Inter Milan.”
However, Spalletti (below) did accept that he may have to swap and change his personnel with such a run of tricky fixtures coming up.
He added: “We have to be alert ahead of this run of games.
“Given there are a number of games in quick succession, we have to measure how much ground certain players have to cover. It’s not a case of one player being involved – it about the cumulative effort the all put in.
“There’s also the pressure to win all of these games. That tires you out and means you need a bit of a breather.
Issues
“We’ve built a squad that allows us to play every game at our best, 100 per cent, and we can win all of these matches.” Spalletti will have issues to solve, even if he came through last night’s fixture against Frosinone with a clean bill of health. Right-back Sime Vrsajlko picked up an injury during Croatia’s match against England and left-back Dalbert is also carrying a knock.