Simone Inzaghi braced for tough game for Inter Milan against Atalanta

Simone Inzaghi is braced for Inter Milan to “suffer” as the Serie A leaders travel to Bergamo on Saturday to face an Atalanta side who have not conceded a goal at home this season.

Inter are in front of Juventus by two points ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, with the Nerazzurri winning all four league matches on the road in this campaign without letting in one goal.

However, the visit to Atalanta represents their stiffest away fixture so far and Inter head coach Inzaghi accepts his side will not have everything their own way at the Gewiss Stadium.

The thoughts of Simone Inzaghi on the eve of #AtalantaInter #ForzaInter

— Inter (@Inter_en) November 3, 2023

“The facts don’t lie,” Inzaghi told Inter TV. “These are two physical teams with a lot of weapons. It’ll be a great game at a tough ground.

“Without a doubt, we’ll need to be really alert again; we’ve defended well in recent weeks. The boys will be tested and we’ll need to suffer as a unit at times because we know our opponents well.

“Atalanta haven’t conceded many, and none at all at home. They’re playing really well in defence but they’ve always been a team that concedes very little. We’ll need to do well in this regard.”

Marcus Thuram has made an impression since joining from Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer and took his tally for the season to four goals in 10 matches with the winner against Roma last weekend.

Inzaghi has been heartened at how quickly Thuram has found his feet but insisted there is room for improvement.

“Marcus has been great,” Inzaghi added. “All the boys have been working hard since 13 July; we always think about ‘us’ and not ‘I’. They’re working really well together, as a group.

“Marcus has settled in really nicely thanks to the help he’s received from us all and he still has room to get even better. He needs to keep growing at the rate he has been since he got here.”

Atalanta pushed Inter all the way in their two league fixtures last season, losing both 3-2, while Inzaghi’s prevailed 1-0 in the Coppa Italia quarter-final en route to going all the way.

It has been five years since Atalanta have defeated their next opponents but while manager Gian Piero Gasperini is wary of what lies ahead, he welcomes the challenge.

He told a press conference: “We will play the undoubtedly strongest team (in the league), not just because of their results.

“Inter have grown, they have added a lot of new players and have considerable options to choose from. Likewise, we’re on a roll. It will be a good test, a big match indeed.”

This will be the start of three fixtures in eight days for Atalanta, who welcome Sturm Graz in the Europa League on Thursday before a trip to take on Udinese next Sunday.

Gasperini added: “We are fully focused on the Inter game at the moment.”