Inzaghi: ‘Milan goal ultimately helped Inter’ in 1-1 draw | OneFootball

Simone Inzaghi feels going behind ‘ultimately helped’ Inter in the Coppa Italia semi-final against Milan and reveals further injury issues limiting his choices.

The Coppa Italia semi-final will be decided in the second leg on April 23, as it remains perfectly in the balance following this evening’s 1-1 draw.

Tammy Abraham had put the Rossoneri in front, but Hakan Calhanoglu drilled in low from outside the box to level the tie, with Mike Maignan making several big saves late on.

“It was a derby. We could’ve gone in front in the first half with the De Vrij chance and the Frattesi move, then Milan had that incident to give them the lead straight after the restart,” Inzaghi told Sport Mediaset.

“I believe it ultimately helped us, because then our second half performance was better than the first, we created so many scoring opportunities against a Milan side that is tough to play against.

“I liked the performance from my players with a lot of sacrifices. There were only 14 outfield players available, because Marko Arnautovic and Federico Dimarco were in no condition to come off the bench. I had some youth team players who were ready, so I asked everyone to push a little harder.”

Inzaghi saw a strong Inter fightback

MILAN, ITALY – APRIL 02: Christian Pulisic of AC Milan tries to get past Hakan Calhanoglu of FC Internazionale during the Coppa Italia Semi Final match between AC Milan and FC Internazionale at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on April 02, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Inter are yet to win a single Derby della Madonnina so far this season, having lost the first two, then twice clawed back a 1-1 draw.

“I saw the first goal, there was an incredible ricochet between Thuram and Frattesi, the ball hung in the right place for Abraham and landed at his feet. I got angry at the time, but then I saw what happened on the replay,” continued Inzaghi.

“We had so many chances afterwards, Maignan made some excellent saves on Mkhitaryan and Zalewski.”

Check the Football Italia Player Ratings for Milan 1-1 Inter

Lautaro Martinez, Mehdi Taremi and Denzel Dumfries were already out of action, plus Kristjan Asllani suspended.

“We knew that this was only the first leg, we hope to have more choices in three weeks’ time. We will travel to Parma in 48 hours, so we couldn’t take any unnecessary risks with our players.”

Inter have an extra two matches to play during that period, as they are in the Champions League quarter-finals against Bayern Munich.

“We fought so hard to keep everything going in April, we played every match to the full. My dream as a coach is to have all the players available, hopefully Dimarco and Arnautovic can be available, we’re waiting for our captain and Dumfries, then we’ll see what happens,” added Inzaghi.

“My players are so eager to give their all for this jersey, it really makes me proud to be their coach.”

Inter fielded the unusual front pairing of Marcus Thuram and Tucu Correa, so how did Inzaghi feel they did in the Derby della Madonnina?

“They had played together against Verona in October or November, they did very well, but then we had problems for Correa, followed by Thuram, so I hadn’t used them together again.

“I do like them as a pair, because they are complementary, Correa drops deeper and Thuram attacks the space. They made a sacrifice today in a very physical game, because they knew I had no other options in attack,” concluded Inzaghi.