FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Serie A - Inter Milan v Parma - San Siro, Milan, Italy - December 6, 2024 Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi reacts during the match REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo/File Photo
(Reuters) - Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi hailed the depth and adaptability of his squad after reaching the Coppa Italia quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Udinese on Thursday.
The Italian manager made nine changes to the line-up that thrashed Lazio 6-0 in Serie A on Monday for their Coppa fixture at San Siro.
Yet Inter were unfazed, as goals from Marko Arnautovic and Kristjan Asllani gave them victory to set up a clash with Lazio in the next round.
"Clearly this is a great sign. It was an important match, a round of 16, when I say I have 25 starters I mean it," Inzaghi told a press conference. "I make choices for Inter's sake, they were very good at reading the game at its best."
"On Monday we won by a wide margin, and even there, there were situations where we could have done better. Today we were up against a worthy opponent and the changes we made didn't show.
"I am lucky to have a great team. These are clearly very good signs from tonight and now we have to focus on the next matches."
Inter will now turn their attention back to Serie A, where they host Como on Monday as they look to kick on in the title race.
The Serie A champions are third with 34 points, with a game in hand, three points behind leaders Atalanta and one point behind second-placed Napoli.
Despite his team's fine form, Inzaghi remained grounded about the challenges ahead in the remainder of the season with plenty of rivals for the title.
"We know that there will be and there are difficulties, but I'm lucky to have a great team and we have to continue like this knowing that in four days we play another game," he said.
"We are running but other teams are running with us, not only Atalanta and Napoli but also Fiorentina, Lazio, Juventus and Milan.
"I knew it would be an open league, with pitfalls, and every day you have to be good at recovering strength and energy. My wish is to always have players available, I'm rotating a lot also for this reason."
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Toby Davis)
