Inter President Beppe Marotta backs the squad rotation against Arsenal and argues the Champions League is above all ‘a valuable training ground’ for experience and mentality.
It kicks off at San Siro at 20.00 GMT.
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game and Stuttgart-Atalanta on the Liveblog.
“The Champions League is the most important competition, but also acts like a valuable training ground against the best opposition. It helps train your mentality and approach to games, which you can only gain via experience and time, so we’re still in that process,” Marotta told Sky Sport Italia.
Simone Inzaghi has made numerous changes to the side that beat Venezia at the weekend, as he is resting stars for the upcoming Scudetto showdown with Serie A leaders Napoli on Sunday. Marotta was therefore asked if this Arsenal test represents an opportunity for Inter or an irritating distraction?
“This is an important game, there are 11 players on the field, they won’t be the same 11 who start against Napoli. That will be just as difficult and we need the same mentality from the start in both fixtures.”
Marotta sees changing Inter behind the scenes
Inter changed ownership from Suning to Oaktree when the Chinese conglomerate failed to keep up with loan repayments in May. While the Zhang family were often nowhere to be seen, Oaktree representatives are more of a physical presence at the club training ground.
“The owners have been very smart to delegate the daily running of the club to management. Oaktree’s presence represents a sense of belonging and security, the desire to measure themselves up in high level competition, which we are doing within the financial parameters set, because sustainability must be respected,” added Marotta.
The President was asked if there were plans to sign any reinforcements during the January transfer window, but shrugged off the suggestion.
“At this moment, we have a balanced squad with youth and experience, there are no particular requirements. I don’t think we will make any moves mid-season, unless there are some special opportunities that come up.”
