Simone Inzaghi knows Inter Milan will need to maintain their standards against Fiorentina at San Siro on Sunday.
Inzaghi’s side have picked up maximum points from their first two Serie A matches after 2-0 wins over Monza and Cagliari.
He told the club’s official website: “We’ve started with real determination; the lads have been excellent. We’ve played two matches, and tomorrow we have another very important game. We’ll be as determined as we always are whenever we take to the pitch.
“We know we’ll be facing an excellent side who are well coached and have excellent players. In the past couple of years, we’ve played them many times and they’ve all been difficult games. We’ll need to approach the match in the best way possible.
“In terms of playing principles, both teams make use of the flanks, which will obviously be the case tomorrow, too. We’ll need to cover the pitch in the best way possible because we know that Fiorentina occupy all areas of the pitch very well.”
Inter Milan, Champions League runners-up last term, had a major overhaul of players in the summer.
The likes of Andre Onana, Marcelo Brozovic, Robin Gosens and Edin Dzeko all went to new clubs while Romelu Lukaku’s loan stay expired.
The arrivals of Benjamin Pavard, Alexis Sanchez and Marcus Thuram along with others have boosted the squad and Inzaghi is happy with the options he has at his disposal.
He added: “For 50 days now, the lads have been working on our principles and many other things that we know we need to improve.
“My staff and I are very satisfied because we see on a daily basis how the boys try to follow our instructions.
“They’re working very well. We know that there have been some big changes this year. We’ve lost some important players who did very well for us, but we’ve brought in some equally important players. Some of them are more experienced, and they’ll help our younger lads to integrate as quickly as possible.”
Inter Milan lost 1-0 to Manchester City in last season’s Champions League final.
On Thursday, they learned of their 2023 group-stage opponents and Inzaghi thinks his side will face a “competitive” start to the tournament.
He added: “We were eagerly anticipating the draw. Last year, we knew how difficult our group was.
“This year, meanwhile, we’re in a very competitive group. We know all about Benfica, who we faced in the quarter-finals last season, while Salzburg are a strong and young side who have been involved in the Champions League for many years now.
“Real Sociedad play some excellent football and did really well in LaLiga last year. It’ll be very competitive, and we’ll try to ensure that we’re ready when the time comes.”
Malacia makes Man Utd comeback after 17 months out
Tyrell Malacia made his injury comeback after a 17-month spell on the sidelines, returning for Manchester United Under-21s against Huddersfield in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
The Netherlands international has not played since coming off the bench for his country against Croatia in the Nations League semi-final in June 2023.
Since that game, Malacia has had knee surgery twice in an attempt to solve an injury that had proved difficult to manage.
The 25-year-old made 39 appearances in all competitions for United after signing in the 2022-23 season, but has not featured for the first team since.
He played for 45 minutes in Huddersfield and was taken off at half-time, although it was a quiet night for him and he rarely got on the ball.
Malacia's return to competitive action coincided with the day that new head coach Ruben Amorim met some of United's senior players at the training ground.
Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer were all among the players he saw while doing their individual injury rehab.
Malacia makes injury comeback for Under-21s after 17 months out
Tyrell Malacia made his injury comeback after a 17-month spell on the sidelines, returning for Manchester United Under-21s against Huddersfield in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
The Netherlands international has not played since coming off the bench for his country against Croatia in the Nations League semi-final in June 2023.
Since that game, Malacia has had knee surgery twice in an attempt to solve an injury that had proved difficult to manage.
The 25-year-old made 39 appearances in all competitions for United after signing in the 2022-23 season, but has not featured for the first team since.
He played for 45 minutes in Huddersfield and was taken off at half-time, although it was a quiet night for him and he rarely got on the ball.
Malacia's return to competitive action coincided with the day that new head coach Ruben Amorim met some of United's senior players at the training ground.
Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer were all among the players he saw while doing their individual injury rehab.
Taylor pleased with Man City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
Laura Blindkilde Brown and Aoba Fujino were on target in the second half at the Joie Stadium, moving them three points clear at the top of Group D.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
The hosts dominated for large parts of the encounter, ending with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.75 from their 16 shots, while also accumulating 73.6% possession.
But Taylor was happy with his side's display and explained the physical test against the Swedish champions was something his players will benefit from moving forward.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad.
Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the Women's Super League, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
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