Spal vs Inter Milan - Spalletti urges Inter to have UCL mentality against SPAL

Posted Saturday, October 06, 2018 by PA

Inter boss Luciano Spalletti wants his side to treat their trip to SPAL like a Champions League game.

The Nerazzurri made a slow start to the season but their form has changed since defeating Tottenham in the Champions League, with Spalletti’s team winning five matches on the spin in all competitions.

Inter have won both of their Champions League group games, after victory at PSV in midweek, and are looking to win a fourth successive Serie A game for the first time since September 2017.

Spalletti is hoping his team can avoid the slip-ups they have made in the past, telling the club’s official website: “I doubt there will be a lapse in concentration compared to previous games.

“The first thing we must do is maintain those qualities that allowed us to get these victories. We need to focus and think back to previous situations when we slipped up with a sub-par performance.

“We know of the dangers in this fixture. I hear the Champions League theme tune before every game and the players will hear it ahead of SPAL too. If someone can’t hear it in their minds, then play it on their phone!”

Despite their current good run of results, Spalletti believes there remains some improvement to be made by Inter.

“We picked up some big results in the unique competition that is the Champions League and every match is its own test and every situation that we’ll face will be a chance to show that we’re worthy of Inter,” he said.

“We’ve still not shown our best and we can’t feel comfortable because of these wins. Against Parma, we gave up little and created a lot but in the end, it’s the result that matters.

“There were moments that we could have made the most of and the result would have been different but the performance wasn’t that different from others where we’ve secured three points.

“I believe in work, not in a result or individual episodes. We’ve faced some difficulties, we worked harder and now we’re where we wanted to be.

“I liked the mentality of the last few games, but I have to see if it is really under our skin or if it washes off in the shower. As long as our victories make headline news, it means we aren’t yet at the level we need to be. Juventus don’t get asked these questions and it should be normal for us too.”