APPIANO GENTILE - For the first time in a long time, the Nerazzurri will know the results of all their Serie A rivals when they go on the pitch to face Sampdoria on Sunday evening.

In today's pre-match press conference José Mourinho kept the promise he made in his last meeting with the press, announcing the names of his call-ups for Inter-Samp and also naming those who will not be with the squad tomorrow night.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is out suspended, Patrick Vieira, Marco Materazzi and Francesco Bolzoni will miss the match through injury, while Nelson Rivas, Nicolas Burdisso, Olivier Dacourt, Luis Jimenez, Victor Obinna and Mario Balotelli have been omitted for technical reasons.

On the absence of the Swedish ace, who had today off, Mourinho explained: "You can't replace a player like him because he is unique and he has made a fundamental contribution in every game. We just have to play like a team, in a compact manner. If we do this we can go on the pitch with many options because with the right attitude you can be prepared for any difficulty and play a good match."

Compared to the opening match of the season last August, Sampdoria visit the Meazza with a very different side. "We are expecting a difficult match," said Mourinho who, with a touch of irony, added, "but we have to play our game as a team, and we have done this in every game except in Bergamo, and we're going through such a crisis that we can't sleep. We won the Super Cup, we're top of the table in the championship, in the semi-final of the Coppa Italia and in the last sixteen of the Champions League...

"We know that if Cassano doesn't play tomorrow there will be Pazzini and Bellucci in his place, or Pazzini as lone striker and an extra man in midfield. It's important to know if Cassano can play or not because he has great qualities and if he doesn't play, there will be someone else."