Inter Milan warmed up for Thursday’s clash with Celtic with a narrow 2-1 win away to Cagliari.
While Ronny Deila’s side enjoyed a home win over Hamilton Accies at lunchtime yesterday Roberto Mancini was taking his side to Sardinia for tonight’s 9pm kick off local time.
Team wise Nemanja Vidic came into the centre of defence while Xherdan Shaqiri was rested and given a place on the bench.
After a goal-less first half Mateo Kovacic broke the deadlock in the 47th minute with a shot from 12 yards out that flew into the top corner of the net.
Twenty-one minutes later Maoro Icardi killed off any hopes of the home-side taking a point from the match when he shot Inter two goals ahead.
Cagliari did pull a goal back in the 74th minute when substitute Samuele Longo netted with the help of goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo after the ball struck the post but despite four minutes of stoppage time they were unable to force an equaliser.
The win lifts Inter into joint sixth place in Serie A alongside Sampdoria and Genoa who meet tomorrow after their match on Saturday was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
Despite winning three consecutive league match Inter are a distant ten points behind Napoli in the race for a Champions League spot meaning that winning the Europa League is their main hope of returning to the competition that they won in 2010.
Celtic will be backed by over 5,000 fans in Milan as they attempt to get their first ever win on Italian soil.
The hoops have played AC Milan four times in the San Siro since they last played Inter in 1972.
