Legendary Ex AC Milan Coach Hails Inter Milan Coach’s Strategy To Keep Arsenal Danger Man Quiet In Champions League Clash | OneFootball

Fabio Capello believes Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi left Federico Dimarco and Alessandro Bastoni out of the starting eleven against Arsenal because of Bukayo Saka.

The legendary former AC Milan coach gave his thoughts on Inzaghi’s squad rotation for the Champions League match on Sky Sport Italia, via FCInterNews.

There were certainly some eye-catching absences from the Inter starting eleven against Arsenal on Wednesday.

In every area of the pitch, Nerazzurri coach left some regular first-choice starters out.

Clearly, part of the reason for this was to preserve the fitness and freshness of certain players for this weekend’s massive Serie A match against Napoli.

But that may not have been the only reason for all the changes.

On Inter’s left side, Yann Bisseck and Matteo Darmian started.

That duo hardly offer the kind of attacking and creative quality that Alessandro Bastoni and Federico Dimarco would in the centre-back and wingback roles respectively.

But the defensive performances by Bisseck and Darmian were close to faultless.

Capello: “Inzaghi Knew Dimarco & Bastoni Would Struggle Vs Saka”

Bisseck and Darmian had a very hard job on their hands.

The Inter duo effectively doubled up on Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka.

Saka is Arsenal’s biggest creative threat. The Englishman’s dribbling and passing ability are often the main route that the Gunners to use opposition defenses.

However, Bisseck and Darmian kept Saka from having any decisive contributions.

Capello argued that Inzaghi “Made the decision to prepare tactically without Bastoni and Dimarco on the left.”

“He knew that Saka was on that side,” the former coach noted.

“And that could really make [Bastoni and Dimarco] struggle.”

“But Inter didn’t struggle too much on that flank,” Capello noted. “So Inzaghi prepared for the match with a reasonable amount of squad rotation.”

“He was thinking about the opposition,” Capello said of Inter’s coach. “Not just resting players.”