APPIANO GENTILE – The Europa League has been put to one side and Inter were back in training at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti this morning, a day on from their match with Neftci. The Nerazzurri began preparations for Sunday’s home game against Napoli.
After a warm-up with the ball, the squad worked on a series of tactical and technical drills before finishing with a short game.
Wesley Sneijder didn’t train because of a tight calf and spent the session working indoors with the physio.
MILAN – Tonight’s double against Neftci brings his Europa League tally to 4 this season. Here’s what Marko Livaja made of his performance this evening: "It’s a dream to play for a great team like Inter. The third goal? It crossed the line but no worries, I’ll get it next time. Am I the back-up to Milito? I can only hope so but I’m ready to play whatever position Stramaccioni wants me to. He gives me confidence and I’m very grateful for that. It’s an honour to play with these great players that are at Inter and I always try to give 100%. Napoli? Let’s hope for a good game of football and three points."
MILAN – Andrea Stramaccioni spoke about Inter’s performance against Neftci in light of what Esteban Cambiasso had to say regarding the positives ahead of Napoli: "There are a lot of positives. The most important thing is to congratulate our young players who showed they’re up to it. Well done to them, to sporting director Piero Ausilio and to Roberto Samaden and Pierluigi Casiraghi who are the key men behind our academy. Cambiasso at centre-half? It’s not the first time he’s played there, we wanted to finish well in front of our fans."
Stramaccioni smiled at the idea of releasing his squad for Napoli on Twitter: "No, I hate to disappoint you but I’m really behind the times. I don’t use Facebook or Twitter. Sneijder? I only talk about what happened on the pitch and I think the situation between us is fairly clear and well-defined. Wesley knows I pick the team. Does it bother me that his tweet came before I’d announced my squad? There was misunderstanding, I’d decided to only announce the list of young players, but I’d already told Sneijder he’d work with the others the morning after. He didn’t know this but it’s nothing serious. At this moment in time I’m picking the best team available to me, as I’ve always done."
"I’m lucky enough to coach a team which has been to all the major grounds in Europe," continued Stramaccioni when asked about the next round of the Europa League. "Our aim is go all the way in this competition. Whoever we draw will be great. For now we’re focusing on the league and Coppa Italia, we’ll look again at Europe in February."
Finally a word on the sort of player he’s looking to bring in during the next transfer window: "We’d like a central striker, something we all know we’ve been missing from the start. That’s the only type of player we’re lacking but, as I’ve said, either someone like this comes in or we’ll focus on getting everyone fit."
MILAN – Esteban Cambiasso, captain tonight for the full 90 minutes, spoke about the draw with Neftci and the possibility of meeting Chelsea in the last 32: "We don’t fear anyone in particular, I’d prefer to travel somewhere a bit closer to home because I think that’s important. What do I remember from when we knocked out Chelsea? That’s all in the past, we’re a different team now and we need to look forward. If we look beyond the result tonight I think the young lads were excellent, showing what they can do here at the San Siro. They put in a great performance and we could have won 3 or 4-1. If there was a time when the result is less important it was today."
What did he make of playing centre back? "It’s up to the coach, one of my few strengths is that I put the team first, I was open to this option and that’s how it should be. I’ve never felt out of place in that position because I played there as a kid and on the odd occasion when we were short under Mourinho or Leonardo. The Sneijder issue? Now’s the time to talk about tonight’s match and these youngsters who made their debut at the San Siro. That’s what we should be talking about."
Finally his thought on what a difference Cassano makes to the team: "Antonio can do anything when he has the ball at his feet, he frightens opposition defences and he can make things happen whenever he gets the ball. We shouldn’t focus on absentees, it’s been a bit tough but on Sunday we got back to winning ways and we need to maintain that."
MILAN – FC Internazionale would like to announce that the gates to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza will be open to the public from 18:45 on Sunday 9 December, ahead of Inter v Napoli, Week 16 of Serie A 2012/13 (kick-off 20:45).
All ticket offices open at 17:00:
SOUTH: 9 windows open for ticket changes; 9 open for ticket sales and transfers.
NORTH: 15 windows open exclusively for ticket sales and ticket transfers.
Open for those with accreditation from 17:30, and one window for Sky tickets.
Press accreditation (previously sent to the Press Office) from 17:30 at gate 8.