Inzaghi plays down importance of Inter's clash with Juve

Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi played down the importance of Sunday's top-of-the-table Serie A match against Juventus, saying there was still two-thirds of the season to play.

The match in Turin will determine the top position in the table, with Inter currently leading on 31 points, while Juve trail by two.

"It counts for a lot but I don’t consider this a decisive game," Inzaghi told a pre-match press conference on Saturday.

"It will be important to our league campaign but tomorrow we will complete one-third of the season, there are still a lot of games."

The 47-year-old Inzaghi said Juve's absence from European football this season was helping them to focus on the domestic matches and rest when rivals were playing.

Juve were banned from UEFA competition in 2023-24 for breaching licensing and Financial Fair Play rules.

"It’s disappointing but it's an advantage for them because they have a week to prepare for all games," Inzaghi said.

"We saw it in the first four games: they were different, it’s always something to have a week available rather than two days to prepare for a game."

Inzaghi confirmed that both Benjamin Pavard and Alessandro Bastoni would still be out with injuries but Juan Cuadrado and Alexis Sanchez might be fit to play.

"Cuadrado trained for a full session yesterday, he had this tendon issue that he suffered from, but he is a huge asset," he said.

Inzaghi said a win against Juve would demand much from the team.

"It will take a lot of focus. Juve is a team with physically strong and quality players; we will need to pay great attention," he said.

"Juventus has players that can change the game at any moment, we need to be extremely focused."