Inter, Inzaghi charges the team for Benfica

Now the only thought must be the Champions League and Tuesday’s match in Lisbon, the first leg of the quarter-finals against Benfica. Inter have the opportunity to write history: the managers know it, angry about the fifth place in the standings and the league performance of the last six days (4 points won), but Inzaghi knows it too who, despite being disappointed by the last results in Serie A, this morning he preferred to underline the historic opportunity available to the group in the next 10 days. “We create a lot and the ball doesn’t want to go in, but let’s not lose faith in what we’re doing. We’ll be back to scoring and continuously. Let’s believe in it!” the meaning of his speech. Inter have not reached the semi-final of the Champions League since the year of the treble and since the beginning of the new century they have only succeeded on two occasions (the other in 2002-03, a Euro-derby loss against Milan). In 48 hours at Da Luz Brozovic and his companions will try to write history, but when they return from Portugal they will have to “dive back” into the race for fourth place which, after the latest negative results, has become considerably more complicated in light of the value of the opponents of the last 9 days and in particular of the 4 direct clashes on the calendar before 3 June.

ZHANG’S PUSH

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The president will go on the charter tomorrow afternoon with the players, the coaching staff and the rest of the management. He wants to stay close to the group and give them a boost. He too is worried about the prospect of finishing outside the top four, an eventuality that would take Inter back 6 years or to the 2017-18 season, the last without the money coming from the Champions League. The present, however, is Tuesday night’s match at Da Luz, a match in which Inter have the chance to make history. Zhang had never made it to the quarterfinals of the Big-Ears cup. The semifinal, where an all-Italian derby would be staged (against Napoli or Milan), would be another historic milestone for him and the Chinese property. Unthinkable and unexpected at the beginning of the season when Bayern Munich and Barcelona were in the group with the Nerazzurri. That’s why the number one of Viale della Liberazione particularly cares about the challenge of Da Luz. He’s far from happy with the difficulties he’s had in the last month and a half in the league, but he knows well that Inzaghi has given his best in Europe, in knockout competitions and in the finals. He is aware that Simone has passed the group stage for the third year in a row (a feat that Spalletti and Conte failed to do), that he now has the possibility of hitting a historic semi-final and that, with this, he would give the club another abundant 20 million. between UEFA prizes, market pool and collection at San Siro. A figure that would be very heavy for the 2022-23 budget.

CALENDAR ON THE RISE

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With the first round of the quarterfinals archived and waiting for the second scheduled for Wednesday 19 at San Siro, from Tuesday night onwards, however, Inzaghi’s team will have to concentrate on the championship and the complicated run-up to qualifying for the next Champions League. 9 days from the end of the tournament, Inter are fifth, -1 behind fourth-placed Milan and -2 behind third-placed Roma. Minimal gaps against two opponents who for the moment, like the Nerazzurri, are still in the running in Europe and therefore won’t be able to rest at least in the next two weeks. The calendar, however, does not lend a hand to Inter because, after the two matches against Monza (Saturday) and Empoli (Sunday 23), in the last 7 matchdays of Serie A there will be matches with Lazio, Rome, Naples and Atalanta. That is four terrible direct clashes. Will Spalletti’s Azzurri have already celebrated the Italian flag at the end of May? Probably, but they won’t give Maradona any gifts. In addition, the calendar includes the second leg of the Coppa Italia against Juventus and maybe a Euro-derby in the Champions League semifinal… If Brozovic and his teammates don’t change pace from the last 6 rounds of Serie A (1 win, 1 draw and 4 ko), even winning a couple of future direct clashes would be useless. No new mistakes can be made against Monza and Empoli. But first there is the Champions League and a historic semi-final to conquer. There will be time to think about Inter’s problems in the Serie A version from Wednesday onwards.