Marotta: ‘Roma to be respected, but result won’t be decisive’

Inter President Beppe Marotta insists Roma are ‘a team to be respected,’ but whatever the result today, it won’t be decisive for the Scudetto race yet.

It kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome at 17.00 UK time (18.00 CEST).

There will be a minute’s silence before kick-off in every match, and Inter are wearing black armbands this evening, following the death of legend Sandro Mazzola at 83.

“With Mazzola, we lose a piece of history. He wore the shirt for 17 consecutive seasons, making Helenio Herrera and President Angelo Moratti’s Inter great. Now it is up to us to preserve the memory of this icon, because there are values we must learn from and transmit them on to the next generation of kids, both within Inter and beyond,” Marotta told DAZN Italia.

Marotta and Inter respect Roma

This match is between the only two teams with a perfect record so far in Serie A this season, so can be considered an early Scudetto showdown.

“Whatever the result today, it will be only an intermediary one. We are up against a very strong opponent, Roma showed at the start of the season how well they’ve done, both in terms of results and the performance, so are a team to be respected.”

Inter are unbeaten at the Stadio Olimpico since a 2-1 loss in October 2016, and won 10 of their last 12 competitive meetings with Roma.

“We admire the experience and quality of their coach, who transmitted those concepts to the players. The organisation of their football is their greatest strength, united with the support of their fans, who give them the extra push required.”

John Stones, Djed Spence and Hakan Calhanoglu are out injured, but the Nerazzurri have been leaking goals lately, conceding five in the last two Serie A rounds.

Both those were comeback wins from 2-0 down to beat Napoli 3-2 and Udinese 5-3.