Closing the championship outside the top four places would decrease the club’s revenues, also leading to consequences in the transfer market. Inzaghi’s side have their fate in their hands, but the haemorrhage of points must be stopped as soon as possible. Training resumes on Tuesday
February 26th
– Bologna
Now even the qualification for the next Champions League is at risk. Or at least there will be a lot of fighting in the next 14 matches, the ones that separate Inter from 3 June and the end of the championship. Inzaghi was hoping for the triptych with Bologna, Lecce and Spezia to bring home 9 points and face the return match of the Champions League on March 14 in Porto with more peace of mind. Instead, his team betrayed him at the first hurdle, slamming into a fitter and more tonic Bologna. The direct competitors for the places ranging from second to fourth are ready to take advantage of it: Milan-Atalanta, Lazio-Sampdoria and Cremonese-Roma will define the new face of the standings, but the situation could get considerably complicated for Brozovic and his companions, at the risk of second place both by Mourinho’s cousins and yellow-reds. And even having Lecce and Spezia as opponents in the next two matches does not help to think positively. On the contrary… Inter has a real syndrome against the medium-small ones which, only in this beginning of 2023, took away 10 points from them (draw against Monza and Sampdoria; knockout with Empoli and Bologna). Will Inzaghi and his friends be able to find a way to solve this problem quickly? It depends on the participation in the next Champions League.
No prizes
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Since Beppe Marotta assumed the role of managing director of the sports area, individual contracts no longer provide for prizes in the event of qualification for the Champions League because, especially after the expansion of the competition to four Italian teams, the idea in viale della Liberazione is that Inter absolutely cannot stay out of the top four in the standings. Last year, not counting box office receipts, participation in the Champions League which ended with elimination in the round of 16 at the hands of Liverpool brought 64 million euros into the Nerazzurri’s coffers. This year the figure could be much higher in the event of qualifying for the quarterfinals: in fact, another 10.6 would arrive from Nyon as a bonus for a further round passed, plus an increase in the market pool and an important collection at San Siro (let’s say about 7, 5 million gross). For a company that closed the 2021-22 budget with a loss of 140 million, not being able to count on such a sum in the future (we are talking about 75-76 million repaid only by UEFA), would be a real bloodbath.
Scaling
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Closing this championship from fifth place down would lead the owners not only to sell a big (preferably one between Dumfries and Brozovic) by 30 June to settle the accounts for 2022-23, but then to sell another couple of valuable pieces for facing a year without the revenues of the Champions League. Just to be clear, the efforts that Marotta, Ausilio and Baccin are currently making to renew the contracts of Calhanoglu (everything is fine, only the announcement is missing) and Bastoni (starting from the current base of 3.5 million net and wanting 5, 5) would risk being nullified by the obligation to let the defender leave, who has the more market of the two. However, the future of Barella and Lautaro would also be at risk, not because the two are not doing well at Inter or in Milan, but because without the Champions League they might be attracted to more intriguing projects. Or it could be the company itself that has to sacrifice important accomplices to sign them. The same goes for Lukaku’s stay: staying out of the Champions League can Inter afford to pay Chelsea 7.6 million on loan and over 11 million gross plus bonuses for the Belgian?
Sponsor problem
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The Champions League is also necessary to attract an important sponsor to replace DigitalBits: there are at least a couple of important negotiations started both overseas and in the Arabian Peninsula and it is clear that offering the new partner a showcase like that of the most prestigious European cup would guarantee possibility of negotiating certain figures or those 30 million that Zhang dreams of to improve the agreement that has not been respected so far by Al Burgio’s company. For Inter, staying out of the Champions League would mean going back to 2017-18, the last year without listening, during the week, to the little tune that fans from all over the Old Continent like so much. The management with the team has been clear several times: a top four place is the minimum target. If it is not centered, reflections will be profound and everyone will be questioned. From the players to the coach himself. In Serie A there are fourteen matches available to Brozovic and his teammates to remedy the mistakes made so far, to put a stop to the number of defeats (7 in 24 rounds) and to find a solution to the poor away performance: the points obtained in the 12 there were 17 away games (2 more than Lecce and Udinese…) and above all the 22 goals conceded are worrying. When he leaves Milan, Inter is in a… sieve version and the others can take advantage of it. The Champions League after the knockout in Bologna is not hanging by a thread, but mistakes are now forbidden. The club is ready to reiterate it again, in the next few days, in the locker room.
Resumed Tuesday
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Despite the bad performance from Bologna and the defeat, no punishment for the team that will have a rest day tomorrow. Work at the Pinetina will resume on Tuesday.
February 26, 2023 (change February 26, 2023 | 19:21)
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