Last night was perfect for Simone Inzaghi and Inter, who booked their spot in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, a step Antonio Conte never took in the Lombardy capital.
The Nerazzurri qualified to the knock-out stages of the competition following their 4-0 win over Viktoria Plzen, a match that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Edin Dzeko and Romelu Lukaku all find the back of the net. Inter have righted the ship following their poor start to the season and confidence has been restored, allowing them to return focus to Serie A and their climb up the table.
As highlighted by Calciomercato.com, Inzaghi has now guided Inter to the Champions League Round of 16 twice in two years, something that hasn’t been achieved since the days of Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese coach secured knock-out football in the Champions League in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons with the Nerazzurri.
In his two years in Lombardy, Conte failed to progress past the group stages of the competition with Inter. In the 2019-20 campaign the Nerazzurri finished third in a group containing Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Slavia Prague. In his second year, Inter finished fourth in the group behind Real Madrid, Borussia Monchengladbach and Shakhtar Donetsk.