Inter's Atletico is called Salernitana

Inter Milan fans are excited about next week's UEFA Champions League knockout game against Atletico Madrid. It's only natural. But before their beloved team gets into the European mood, they must first navigate tonight's Serie A game against Salernitana, knowing that a win would take them ten points clear at the top of the standings.

Inter has no intention of overlooking tonight's match against Salernitana to focus on Tuesday's Champions League match against Atletico at San Siro. There will be some rotation, but limited - because the three points are needed to send another message to the competition in the race for the Scudetto.

Head coach Simone Inzaghi does not want his players to be distracted, and the seven-point lead (with a game in hand) over Juventus does not push him to take his foot off the accelerator. Especially since there has been time to recover from the 4-2 victory last Saturday at the Olimpico. Therefore, the coach from Piacenza will rotate the squad, but very carefully.

Stefan De Vrij will play as expected in place of the injured Francesco Acerbi, but the indications from Thursday's training session are that the former Lazio coach will not change the rest of the defensive line, with Yann Sommer in goal and Benjamin Pavard and Alessandro Bastoni as full-backs. There may be space for Yann Bisseck as a substitute. In midfield, the rotation of the wingers is expected and confirmed: Denzel Dumfries and Carlos Augusto will give Matteo Darmian and Federico Dimarco a rest, while it is highly likely that, as in 15 of the last 16 league matches, the midfield trio will be Nicolo Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (with Davy Klaassen initially on the bench). In attack, Marko Arnautovic was tested alongside Marcus Thuram on Thursday, but it is not certain that Lautaro Martinez will be on the bench. On the contrary... Ultimately, the partnership between Lautaro and the Frenchman could be reproduced.

All Inter players spent the last night in the club's retreat in Pinetina, some 30 kilometres away from Milan. That's another sign of how seriously Inzaghi is tonight's game. There will be time to think about Atleti.

SERIE A

Friday

21.00: (1.85) Torino (3.40) Lecce (4.60)

23.00: (1.17) Inter (7.50) Salernitana (16.0)

Saturday

17.00: (1.65) Napoli (3.80) Genoa (6.50)

20.00: (6.25) Verona (3.60) Juventus (1.70)

22.45: (1.35) Atalanta (5.30) Sassuolo (8.00)

Sunday

14.30: (2.40) Lazio (3.20) Bologna (3.40)

17.00: (1.95) Udinese (3.45) Cagliari (4.00)

17.00: (3.70) Empoli (3.45) Fiorentina (2.15)

20.00: (3.90) Frosinone (3.50) Roma (1.95)

22.45: (4.70) Monza (3.50) Milan (1.80)

***odds are subject to change