Simone Inzaghi insists he does not ‘want to see sad faces’ after Inter drew with Real Sociedad and went into the Champions League draw as second seeds, explaining his squad rotation.
It was ultimately a disappointing night at San Siro, as they knew that a victory was needed to secure top spot and they had very little to lose, having already qualified for the Round of 16.
However, Real Sociedad absolutely dominated possession, especially in the first half, though the best scoring opportunities were for the Nerazzurri.
“We knew that second place would make for a tougher draw, but I don’t want to see sad faces, I only want to see smiles as we finished the group unbeaten, we are in the Round of 16 for the third year running. We are very satisfied,” Inzaghi told Mediaset and Sky Sport Italia.
“We wanted another win in front of our fans, we didn’t manage it tonight, but we tried until the 95th minute. We were up against a quality opponent and Inter had the best scoring opportunities.
“Real Sociedad are a great side, we only allowed them a bit of possession in the first 25 minutes and never risked anything then either. The pity is that we didn’t convert the chances, but we finish unbeaten and are second only on goal difference.”
There will be questions over why Inzaghi waited until the 65th minute to introduce Lautaro Martinez, and even then it was for Marcus Thuram, leaving him with Marko Arnautovic as a strike partner.
“We are in December, we need to reach June with Lautaro, Barella and others in one piece. They also had international duty, so were never really given the opportunity to rest and they needed it. In my view, that was a priority. I am very satisfied with what the team did and we must continue in this direction.”
Was Inzaghi also suitably impressed with the performances of Alexis Sanchez and Marko Arnautovic?
“Yes, they are giving us a hand. It’s normal that they are not at 100 per cent when not playing as often, but they will improve as time goes on.”
There was drama elsewhere in this group, as Benfica won 3-1 away to RB Salzburg deep into stoppages and snatched third place for a Europa League play-off.
“We’ll see what the draw has to say. We finished second in the group last season and reached the Final, after all.”