Inter Milan can send “a strong message for the championship” by winning the Italian Super Cup against Naples on Monday in Riyadh, their coach Simone Inzaghi said on Sunday.
“This would be a strong message for the championship (…) It is going to be a very good final and it is important to win it,” declared the Italian technician during the traditional press conference on the eve of the match, broadcast on the club website. Inter, leader of the Italian Championship before the 21st day and the match of its runner-up (2nd by two points), Juventus, in Lecce on Sunday evening, have won the last two editions of the Italian Super Cup. “Making the three pass would be very strong for Inter and for the whole group. Three consecutive victories, it only happened once,” he recalled, referring to AC Milan, crowned in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
Inzaghi can himself make the history of the competition created in 1988 by becoming the most successful coach with a fifth trophy after the two won with Lazio in 2017 and 2019, then the two won with Inter in 2022 and 2023. He would overtake two legends of Italian football, Fabio Capello and Marcello Lippi who, like him, have four editions of the “Supercoppa Italiana” to their list of achievements.
“It would be good, more for Inter than for Simone Inzaghi (..) As I told the players on July 13 when we started preparing for the season, we must put Inter before our personal joys . “It’s our secret,” he insisted. Facing him, Inzaghi will find on his route the experienced Walter Mazzarri who already lost the 2012 edition with Naples. If Napoli is in a disappointing 9th place, twenty points behind its opponent in the final, Mazzarri wants to believe that the victory (3-0) in the semi-final on Thursday against Fiorentina can mark a turning point in his team’s season.
“We see an Inter team that impresses in terms of play, speed and quality, they are playing at their best level, but having a good match against them would give us even more confidence for the rest of the season,” he insisted. “There is no favorite in a final,” said his captain Ciro Immobile.
