Giovanni van Bronckhorst has urged Feyenoord to put their home victory over Como to one side when they face Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The match at De Kuip in Rotterdam starts at 21:00 CET [20:00 GMT], with Sweden’s Glenn Nyberg appointed as referee. Van Bronckhorst was speaking at his pre-match news conference, with his comments reported by TuttoMercatoWeb via FCInter1908.
“Getting a result against an Italian team doesn’t mathematically mean we’ll win again,” said Van Bronckhorst. “Of course, we watched the Como game too, but tomorrow the opponent will be different. Como are in the Champions League for the first time, Inter have a different status. Every team has its vulnerabilities, though.”
Inter travel to the Netherlands after suffering their first league defeat of the season, losing 3-1 to Milan in Saturday’s derby. That result leaves them three points behind leaders Lazio.
Cristian Chivu’s squad has also been affected by injuries. Lautaro Martinez, Benjamin Pavard, John Stones, Curtis Jones and Luis Henrique are all unavailable.
Van Bronckhorst, who played at left-back for Barcelona and Arsenal, confirmed that Shaqueel van Persie and Reiss Nelson had returned to training and would be available for the match.
The Feyenoord coach said he had studied several Inter performances, including their defeat by Milan, but warned that the Italian side’s quality extended well beyond their latest result.
“Playing against them is difficult, they play football similar to ours,” he said. “They have a lot of injuries, but also a lot of quality and experience.
“Inter aren’t afraid to sit in a low block and then press high, they bring a lot of players forward, and they’re a complete team. They’re missing some players, and we’ll have our chances to win the game, as has always been the case.”
Van Bronckhorst also suggested that Inter would not necessarily resemble the side seen against Barcelona, although he expects them to be well prepared for European competition.
“Tomorrow’s Inter will be different from the one we saw against Barcelona, but they know what to do in the Champions League to go through and be successful,” he said. “Tomorrow we need to play our cards well and try to get a great result. We’ve struggled away from home, while we’ve already won at home against Como. Let’s hope we can do it again.”
Feyenoord have gone three matches without a win, but Van Bronckhorst said the squad remained determined to respond.
“The group has energy. It knows it’s come from three games without a win and wants to show tomorrow that it wants to turn the page,” he said.
He believes Feyenoord must reproduce the defensive discipline they showed against Como rather than simply increase their work rate.
“We don’t need to run more, but to be compact at certain moments of the game,” Van Bronckhorst added. “We managed that against Como, and we need to do it again so we don’t leave Inter dangerous spaces.”
The coach also dismissed the significance of Inter’s derby defeat, saying his focus was on their overall performance and strengths.
“I didn’t look at the result, but at the way they played,” he said. “They’re a top team, and not just this year. They have players who know what to do in the Champions League. I have to focus on their strengths, not on the result of their last game.”
