Before the UEFA Champions League group stage matchday 2, in which Brugge will visit their former club Inter Milan, Yann Sommer, the goalkeeper of Brugge, gave an interview to Andrea Paventi, a reporter from Sky Sport Italia who covers Inter Milan.

Yann, if you look back and imagine your time at Inter, beautiful memories must come to mind. One of them is when you made an important save against Yamal at the goal line while Inter were pushing for the Champions League semi-finals. Tell us, how do you feel about returning to this stadium? What are your feelings right now? Tomorrow you'll play for your new club against Inter Milan, but how does it feel to play in a stadium where you experienced so much pride and satisfaction?

Without doubt, this is a very special moment for me. Returning to this pitch brings back many emotions. I played for this team in front of these passionate fans in this historic stadium for three full years, and the beautiful memories remain vivid. Yes, tomorrow will be a match against my former teammates, and I know their characteristics very well. It will be very interesting to face them for Brugge tomorrow, and this is truly a memorable and special opportunity.

I'd like to ask you about your mindset shift and change of role as well. As a professional player, when you moved from an environment like Inter Milan, where in some ways expectations are extremely high and you must win everything—meaning you must always play a key role in both the domestic league and the Champions League—to a new club. Even though Brugge are currently trailing Gent in the domestic league, the goal remains to push hard for the title just as before, but the strategic importance of the Champions League for Brugge this season may be quite different. How do you adapt to and view these differences and changes?

It's clearly different, but it's very interesting and attractive as well. We have a completely different team and a new project. We're very young, but the players have high competitive quality and excellent football abilities. Personally, I really enjoy this atmosphere. As a senior player with more experience, I can bring my professional experience to this young team, share it with my teammates, and help them grow. As for tomorrow's match, everyone knows we're not favorites to win, but that's the beauty of football—the uncertainty. As long as we show enough courage and fighting spirit to compete hard in the match, let's see what happens.

Mats Akanji told us you two contacted each other privately recently. What did you talk about? Did you just wish him luck, or did you express special wishes for tomorrow's encounter? After all, tomorrow you'll go from close friend to competitor on the pitch.

Yes, I called him beforehand. You know, we know each other very well, and we've played many intense matches together in the past. So it will be truly special to meet again on the pitch tomorrow—especially during set pieces when he runs into the box to join the attack. However, the only thing I care about for tomorrow's match is playing a high level and exciting game for Brugge. After the match, it's clear we'll sit down and chat for a long time.

You know them too well because you were in the same locker room just a few months ago. From a technical and tactical standpoint, what dangers do you think Inter Milan can pose? You know their attacking style in detail and are well aware of how strong their offensive capabilities are. Inter Milan, as always this season, creates many scoring chances and is highly efficient in front of goal. Given your extensive experience mentioned above, what specific advice have you given to your Brugge teammates to help them deal with such a strong team that has a long history and deep roots in the Champions League?

It's very clear that we're fully prepared for everything Inter Milan brings, because our coaching staff and entire team know Inter Milan well. Yes, they've maintained the strength of their squad in every position this season and have added some excellent new players as well. It's clear that if Inter Milan are given too much space to attack in the game, they can create very dangerous and devastating situations.

So tomorrow we will give our full effort to play a serious, focused, and disciplined match, aiming to maximize our defensive efficiency and make it difficult for Inter Milan to create easy attacking chances. This is our main tactical objective. At the same time, we hope to use our technical advantage in possession to control the tempo of the game at certain moments. Let's see what happens tomorrow, but without doubt this will be an important encounter, and I'm really looking forward to it.

One last question: everyone is still talking about Inter Milan's dream of competing for the Champions League title. You came very close to lifting that trophy in the past. In your opinion, considering Inter Milan's targeted transfers in the market, the team's extensive accumulated experience, and the fact that several key players have already been through a Champions League final, is this a team strong enough to go all the way and win the Champions League? What do you think about this Inter Milan team's maximum competitive ability in the Champions League this season?

It's clear that they have the quality and strength to win the Champions League, which we saw firsthand two seasons ago when we were just one step away from the trophy. The current Inter Milan squad hasn't undergone significant structural changes—they've simply added some new players to strengthen their squad according to their objectives. So they remain a very strong and outstanding team. However, personally, all my focus and energy is now completely directed at Brugge. Of course, after tomorrow's match, from the next day onward, I will always be genuinely happy for Inter Milan when I see them win in subsequent matches.

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