Simone Inzaghi is eyeing a repeat of last season’s performance in the Champions League final as Inter Milan prepare for Tuesday’s clash with Atletico Madrid at the San Siro. Inter were defeated by Manchester City in the final in Istanbul in June, but bounced back with a brilliant season, leading Serie A by nine points and winning the Italian Super Cup. The three-time European champions have won every match since the turn of the year and have an almost complete squad for a fascinating clash with Atletico, who sit fourth in La Liga.

“We experienced some magical nights with the club and our fantastic fans last season. We would like to do it again but we know there are many great teams out there who have the same ambitions as us,” Inzaghi told reporters. “

“It’s going to be a very tough match but we’re going into it with great desire… We know it’s going to be a great atmosphere and we have to be at our best.”

Inter were a surprise finalist after almost closing a huge resource gap with the mega-rich City after a fluctuating season in which they lost 12 times in Serie A.

But their tremendous performance this season suggests that another deep run would be much less of a shock.

“It’s a logical consequence of what the team is doing on the pitch,” Inzaghi said.

“But we need to remain as focused as we have been in the first six months of the season. We’ll see what happens from there.”

Inzaghi will face former Lazio teammate Diego Simeone at Atletico, with whom he won the Italian double as a player 24 years ago.

Simeone is also fondly remembered by Inter fans as he won the UEFA Cup in 1998 in a star-studded team that also included Brazilian icon Ronaldo.

old friends

Inzaghi said, “It will be a pleasure to see Diego as my opponent. He was a great teammate as we won with Lazio and when he went back to Atlético to finish his career in Spain we always Stay in touch.”

“It was clear he was going to be a great coach…he’s won a lot there and it’s been a pleasure to watch them this year because they play great football.”

Atletico have been boosted by the return of Alvaro Morata, the La Liga outfit’s top scorer with 19 goals in all competitions after suffering a knee ligament injury last week.

“There’s a possibility he could come on, let’s hope he scores,” Koke told reporters.

Regardless of whether Morata starts alongside Antoine Griezmann or not, Simeone has no illusions about the size of the task at hand.

“Inter is one of the five best teams in Europe at the moment,” he said.

“They are showing it in Serie A, and the way they played the Champions League last year, reaching a fantastic final with City, has given them more confidence.”

Simeone returns to Milan where he says he spent “the best two years of his career” with Inter, which was a golden age for Italian football.

“I have very fond memories of the people I shared that experience with,” Simeon said.

“I got a lot of love from the fans and I gave it my all. When you go somewhere you always have that thing in you that you have love for the people.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)