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Inzaghi pushing Inter to end San Siro hoodoo with Bayern and reach Champions League semis / Photo: Piero CRUCIATTI - AFP/File
Inzaghi pushing Inter to end San Siro hoodoo with Bayern and reach Champions League semis
Simone Inzaghi on Tuesday urged his Inter Milan team to end a San Siro hoodoo against Bayern Munich and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Inter lead Bayern 2-1 ahead of Wednesday's decisive second leg in Milan after becoming the first team to beat the German giants in Munich in Europe's elite club competition since 2021.
But Bayern have won all three of their previous Champions League matches against Inter at the San Siro, and Inzaghi said that his team need to forget the aggregate score and focus on replicating last week's dogged and clinical display at the Allianz Arena.
"There's a lot of pride with these boys and with the club for how the season is coming along," Inzaghi told reporters.
"We can't think about the result (in the first leg) but the performance we put in, and we can't look at the previous results between the two teams because they've not always been very positive. The boys know what they need to do."
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany has been boosted by the return of winger Kingsley Coman and midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic.
Kompany has had to deal with a raft of injuries in recent weeks including a hamstring tear for Germany star Jamal Musiala, but Thomas Muller is expected to start after scoring Bayern's goal in the first leg and performing well against Borussia Dortmund at the weekend.
Muller, who will leave Bayern at the end of the season, will join Lionel Messi with 163 appearances in the Champions League if the 35-year-old is picked by Kompany.
"We know what kind of team Bayern are... they're a team full of talent. They're young and aggressive, and we'll need to make sure we put in a great performance," added Inzaghi.
Inter are gunning to repeat the Serie A, Champions League and Italian Cup treble they conquered under Jose Mourinho in 2010, and midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is convinced the Italians can push for all three major honours.
"I believe that we are a really good team and that's why we're still fighting on three fronts -- in the cup, Champions League and Serie A," said Mkhitaryan.
"We want to keeping pushing forward because we play all season, all year round to win something and this year could give us a lot."
R.Poirier--PS
