After managing a 2-0 win over Sampdoria recently, Inter Milan managed to close the gap on their archrivals AC Milan to just seven points with only a few matches remaining.
AC Milan currently occupy the third position in the Italian Serie A table. It would guarantee them the ability to play in the Champions League group stages next season. Inter Milan started the season with the objective of qualifying for this elite competition, but they have been suffering from a poor form since the turn of the year. This has started speculation that Inter may part ways with their manager.
However, it has not materialised so far and Stramaccioni remains as the manager of the Italian team. After securing the win over Sampdoria, Stramaccioni said that he still believes that Inter will be able to catch Milan before the end of the season. A run of just two wins in the last four matches meant that Inter Milan have not only dropped out of the fourth position, but there are currently fighting against the likes of Lazio and Roma for the sixth spot. Striker Rodrigo Palacio proved to be the difference between Inter Milan and Sampdoria after he scored two goals to set the 2010 Champions League winners on their way to 3 points.
“If we were to beat Atalanta, the race is still open and I have faith. I don’t want to hear that it’s over. We are angry and we want to win in front of our fans. There is great desire to vent this anger tomorrow. We trained well and it will be a key game. The boys are ready for it and I have not seen any loss of motivation within the squad. It is an important result for us tomorrow and our fans understand the significance,” said Stramaccioni.