Francesco Acerbi is pleased with his Inter debut in a Champions League victory over Viktoria Plzen. ‘I didn’t come here to play a cameo role.’
The Nerazzurri dominated the match in the Czech Republic, becoming the first ever Italian side to win away to this club.
Edin Dzeko scored one and created the assist for Denzel Dumfries, with Viktoria Plzen going down to 10 men on the hour mark due to Pavel Bucha’s horror tackle on Nicolò Barella.
It puts them on three points in the group, awaiting Bayern Munich and Barcelona’s head-to-head this evening.
This also represented the debut in the Inter jersey for Acerbi, who joined on loan from Lazio on transfer deadline day.
“I didn’t come here to play a cameo role, I have to be myself and play as if I’d been here for years,” the Italy international told Sky Sport Italia.
“The only worry might’ve been my stamina after not playing for three months, but it went well.”
Confidence is growing within the squad, aided by their last-gasp 1-0 win over Torino in Serie A at the weekend, decided by Marcelo Brozovic.
“Winning against Torino the way we did was important. We still have a few dips in concentration and intensity, which we need to improve on. We allowed too many crosses this evening, for example.”
This was only the 34-year-old’s 11th career appearance in the Champions League, the first since Lazio played Bayern Munich in the Round of 16 back in March 2021.