Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi urged his players to forget a difficult week and face Barcelona with no fear as they look to get their season back on track in Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal.
Inter have lost three consecutive games in all competitions for the first time since 2017, exiting the Coppa Italia to Milan and suffering back-to-back defeats in Serie A, allowing Napoli to replace them at the top of the table.
They now take on Barça in the first leg of the semifinal at the Olympic Stadium this week with a season which promised a treble a week ago now at risk of ending without a trophy.
“Forget everything about the last week,” Inzaghi said in the pre-game news conference. “For four years, these players have done extraordinary things and they keep doing them.
“The last week doesn’t delete that work. It’s been a great season. We’ve analysed the last three games. We have to do better, but after four years we’re [still] here competing.
“[Until last week], we were fighting for every trophy when some said it would be hard to make the top four in Italy. You will never hear me speak ill of these boys and the group. Thanks to them we have exceeded all expectations over the last four years.”
Inzaghi, who has won one Serie A title and two Coppas Italias as Inter coach, is targeting a second Champions League final with the Nerazzurri after finishing as runners-up to Real Madrid in 2023.
In front of the Italian side is a Barça team who top LaLiga and have just won the Copa del Rey, beating Real Madrid in the final, and Inzaghi is full of praise for the work counterpart Hansi Flick has done since taking over last summer.
“We are against probably the best team in the world right now,” he added. “We must be very clean technically. We need a lot of components to be in place to be able to compete against such a strong team.
“Flick is a great coach who has organised the team really well in attack. They get the ball back quickly when they lose it. They have excellent forwards, midfielders and a ton of players who have come through the academy.
“So maximum respect, but no fear, we will look them in the eye, like we did against Bayern [Munich in the quarterfinal]. There are great teams in the competition, but we want to have our say.”
Inter will be without defender Benjamin Pavard in Barcelona this week, but striker Marcus Thuram could be available again after returning to training.
“Thuram has trained with the team,” Inzaghi confirmed. “He did a good job. The signs are positive but we have to judge it tomorrow.”
If fit, Thuram will partner Lautaro Martínez in attack. Between them, the two have scored 38 goals in all competitions this season and Martínez said the team is united in the aim of reaching another Champions League final.
“We’ve done a great job this year until the last week, where we’ve lost three games in a row,” the Argentina international said in a news conference. “That hadn’t happened for some time. We had got used to winning, so it hurts even more when you lose. But the team is good, strong, united. The key to a team is having a solid group. We’re ready to face the game.
“We’re excited because in three years we’ve reached two Champions League semifinals. We’ve done a great job in this competition. Now we want to fulfil the dream of our fans and take Inter into another final.
“We are confident and looking forward to that possibility.”
Inter host Barça in the second leg in Milan next Tuesday, with the winners meeting either Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal in the final in Munich on May 31.