At 18.00 Inter and Lecce challenge each other at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan, after 1-2 for the Nerazzurri of the first leg. Between 2004 and today the two teams have met 15 times: Inter have won ten times, Lecce twice, draws have been three. With 14 games still to play, Inter are 18 points behind Napoli: a gap difficult to bridge. The victory of Lazio against the Neapolitans makes the competition in the Champions League even more red-hot: by drawing, Simone Inzaghi's team would hook the biancazzurri and winning would overcome them. Despite the February 22 victory against Porto for 1-0 in the Champions League, the "crazy Inter" in the league had a fluctuating trend: the 1-0 defeat in Bologna and the disappointing 0-0 with Sampdoria are partially compensated by the 1-0 victory in the derby, in theory the most difficult among the three games in Serie A. On the eve of the match against Lecce, Inter coach Simone Inzaghi admitted: "We arrive at this challenge angry for the last result, we can't wait to get back on the pitch. We have analysed the mistakes made. We will need a lot of concentration, we will have to use our heads: a difficult match awaits us, but I expect a reaction from great men and from a great group, which is what we are." The Nerazzurri coach does not underestimate the opponents: "In front of us we will find a healthy team, which plays excellent football: Lecce is doing an excellent championship, we will have to pay close attention, the games are all difficult, this season is proving it. Ours is a united group and the proof is given by the availability I have always had from all the players: there are always disqualifications and injuries and from time to time different players have changed roles, I have always found excellent answers".

Here Lecce

If in recent games the "crazy Inter" has been inconstant and unpredictable, Lecce has also been crazy. After the excellent 1-1 against Roma and the excellent 1-2 on the field of Atalanta, the Giallorossi lost 0-1 at home with Sassuolo. In the standings, Marco Baroni's team is fifteenth with 27 points, eight from seventh place, which could guarantee access to the Conference if one of the top six teams in the standings won the Italian Cup. The safety distance from the relegation zone should be sufficient, although there are still 14 games to play. "Inter is a strong team that, unlike what many may think, does not depend on Lautaro. He is a crazy, extraordinary player, but theirs is an important squad - is the point of view of Lecce coach, Marco Baroni -. These are complicated, difficult matches, but it is within these difficulties that there is the challenge on our part. We know we find in front of us an over-motivated team, which is experiencing an important moment, and teams like this hardly stumble twice in a row. When you go to a stadium like this you have to put a lot of your own into it with joy, enthusiasm and opportunity." In the first leg, the Nerazzurri won in the 95th with a goal by Dumfries: "In this kind of race, the ordinary is not enough. At the beginning we had many insecurities, the team was evolving, we were missing players that we then found in the following days. The spirit must be that, removed the first minutes and the initial goal. Ours is a team that boasts values, balance and compactness. These are games in which the opponent tries to make you lose his balance, but we have to stay in our identity."

(ANSA)

An aerial view of the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan

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