Sampdoria coach Claudio Ranieri warns Inter have ‘Antonio Conte’s character’ and welcomes Juventus links with Fabio Quagliarella as ‘a reward.’
It kicks off on Wednesday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“It’ll be a fascinating and difficult game,” said the coach in his press conference.
Sampdoria coach Claudio Ranieri warns Inter have ‘Antonio Conte’s character’ and welcomes Juventus links with Fabio Quagliarella as ‘a reward.’
It kicks off on Wednesday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“It’ll be a fascinating and difficult game,” said the coach in his press conference.
“We’ll do the same as against Roma – try to win and then if a champion manages to create a goal out of nowhere, we can only tip our hats to him. The important thing is that I always want my men to step onto the pitch trying to win.”
Roma won 1-0 on Sunday under torrential rain thanks to a late Edin Dzeko strike, while Inter are on a run of eight consecutive Serie A victories.
“The response I got from the Roma game was that Sampdoria are in excellent physical and mental shape. I am satisfied with the performance, and although we made a few mistakes, we were up against one of the contenders for a Champions League place.
“Now we’ll face Inter and I can see the team has Conte’s character. They are capable, determined, hungry and we will try to make life as difficult for them as possible tomorrow.”
Albin Ekdal is suspended, with Manolo Gabbiadini and Alex Ferrari injured, while Bartosz Bereszynski is not ready to start.
“Without Ekdal, we can rely on Adrien Silva, who played in different leagues and won the Euros with Portugal. He can be relied upon.”
Ranieri was also asked about reports Quagliarella could be a January transfer target for Juventus.
“I read about that. Whether it happens or not, just the link is a great reward considering he’ll be 38 at the end of the month.
“We’ll wait for the events and see what happens.”