Inter take on Juve in Italian Cup final
MILAN, May 10, (AP): For Inter Milan, Wednesday’s Italian Cup final could be the first of two trophies.
Inter play Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and then has two league matches in Serie A, where they are locked in an intriguing title fight with city rivals AC Milan.
Defending champions Inter are two points behind Milan, which also have the better head-to-head record in the league - the first tiebreaker in Serie A.
The mood was buoyant in the Nerazzurri camp when they beat Milan 3-0 last month to reach the Italian Cup final. Inter were still behind in the league but had a game in hand and for months had been pointing to theirpostponed match at Bologna as a chance to gain ground in the title race.
They lost that match 2-1.
The nerves have set in since then and that could be clearly seen in the first 25 minutes of Inter’s match against Empoli, where even coach Simone Inzaghi said his players were feeling the pressure as they conceded two goals before recovering to win 4-2. With that in mind, Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta wants the team to put title thoughts to the back of their minds and focus on Wednesday’s final.
“It’s normal that they’re also thinking of the title. This week we’re playing for two important goals that represent above all a season dedicated to sacrifice by the whole club,” he said. “We want to pick up something but it’s also important to know that Wednesday we can achieve our first goal, so we’re concentrated on that.