Inter President Beppe Marotta warns the on-going battle over the sale of San Siro is ‘embarrassing’ and failure to sell the land would see them and Milan ‘leave the city.’
The match with Sassuolo kicks off at San Siro at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s five Serie A games on the Liveblog.
The first question for Marotta was about the plan for Milan and Inter to buy the land around San Siro and build a new stadium, but that is still not given the all clear by the local authorities after years of legal wrangling and red tape.
“As a man of football, it is a little embarrassing to be dealing with this situation,” Marotta told DAZN Italia.
“Sport in Milan is pushed to one side, we cannot get the criteria to organise the Champions League Final at San Siro, this stadium was not given the all clear as a venue for EURO 2032.
“All this is because there are some who got involved 30 years ago in politics and are very conservative, they don’t realise that clubs like Inter and Milan absolutely need a new stadium that is up to date.
“If this situation cannot be resolved, then both clubs would be forced to leave the city. That would be a terrible thing for the city. I am optimistic, I see what Mayor Sala is doing, and I hope common sense will prevail,” noted Marotta.
Marotta looks at present and future of Inter
The Nerazzurri are in crisis mode following two consecutive Serie A defeats to Udinese and Juventus, although they managed to steady the ship with the midweek 2-0 Champions League victory away to Ajax.
Lautaro Martinez is still dealing with a back problem, so Francesco Pio Esposito again starts upfront with Marcus Thuram, fresh from scoring a brace in Amsterdam.
There is squad rotation elsewhere, with Josep Martinez, Carlos Augusto, Francesco Acerbi and Petar Sucic stepping in, resting Yann Sommer.
“It is our duty to look at the present and also the future. Younger players have prospects for the future, so it is only right that the coach uses them, evaluates their form, and it is all in the interests of Inter,” assured Marotta.
“Sommer is a great professional, so naturally he was fine with this decision, and knows it is the right move to evaluate the future of Inter.
“Pio has everything it requires to do well, he’s intelligent and a good lad, so we are optimistic for the future of Inter and the future of the Nazionale too.”