Speaking from the pitch at the Etihad Stadium before Inter’s Champions League opener against Manchester City, Inter CEO Beppe Marotta shared his thoughts on the match and other topics in an interview with Sky Sport.
Regarding the memories of last year’s final in Istanbul, Marotta said: “I believe that’s in the past. We’ve learned the right lessons from that defeat. Today the context is different, in front of their home crowd, and it’s our debut. We need to face them with the right personality.”
When asked about Lautaro Martinez starting on the bench, Marotta explained: “Matches last 95-100 minutes, and who better than Inzaghi to make decisions? These are evaluations that involve technical, tactical, and physical aspects. Let’s not forget that Lautaro has been very busy with Argentina. We have a competitive squad, it shouldn’t make news whether one player or another starts.”
Marotta also commented on the transfer market being open during the start of the season: “We’ve made our complaints to the league, which is sensitive to this issue. I hope that from next year, the transfer window closure will coincide with the start of the championship. This would eliminate the annoyances caused to individual clubs.”
In a separate interview with Amazon Prime Video, Marotta added: “We managers have been put in a position to work well in recent years. We’ve managed to always assemble competitive teams, both with the old and current ownership. This is a great satisfaction.”
Interestingly, Marotta revealed that Inter was once close to signing Erling Haaland: “Yes, when he was playing in Norway, he was suggested to us. He came as a 15-year-old to watch a Juve-Inter match in Turin, we were close but then there were bureaucratic problems.”
Regarding the rematch with Manchester City, Marotta stated: “This is a match in itself. From Istanbul, we’ve drawn positive experiences. We’ve won the Scudetto, we’re a more mature team compared to that day. We’re facing this team of champions, we must do it with the right personality and mentality, regardless of our qualities.”
When asked if Inter could win the Champions League, Marotta confidently replied: “Yes.”
