Simone Inzaghi reveals his biggest regret of the season and insists Inter can still take the Serie A title off Milan in the final round. ‘It’s happened before, I won with Lazio when we were two points behind.’
The Nerazzurri won 3-1 in Sardinia with a Lautaro Martinez brace and Matteo Darmian header, pushing every verdict down to the final round.
Serie A | Cagliari 1-3 Inter: Lautaro sends everything down to the wire
Milan still need only a point against Sassuolo to be sure of the Scudetto, because if the teams finish level at the top, the Rossoneri have a superior head-to-head record.
The other consequences are that Genoa are relegated and Sampdoria are safe, so the final spot in Serie B is between Salernitana and Cagliari.
“The emotions were on Wednesday, winning a trophy we cared about a great deal,” Inzaghi told DAZN, referring to the Coppa Italia Final 4-2 extra time victory over Juventus.
“It wasn’t easy after Milan’s win, but the team played really well against an opponent who is problematic on their own turf. I congratulate my lads, because this was by no means to be taken for granted, especially after playing 120 minutes on Wednesday.”
Inzaghi of course was playing for Lazio in 2000 when they leapfrogged Juventus on the final day of the season, that infamous rainy day in Perugia. Can Sassuolo upset Milan and help Inter retain the title?
“Sassuolo are a very good side, they have a lot of individual talents. I expect a very open end to the season for the Scudetto, European places and relegation. Now we are here, we’ve got to try to go all the way.
“Naturally, we are behind, so we need a victory and for them to lose. It’s happened before, I won with Lazio when we were two points behind and Juventus lost to Perugia, so it can happen again.”
Lautaro Martinez now has 21 Serie A goals this season.
“I think he netted 13 in the last 13 appearances. He was suspended against Verona, I made other choices against Spezia and from there he didn’t put a foot wrong. He’s world class, a very important player for us, always generous in working for the team and is now finishing really well too.
“It’s hardly a discovery, I told Lautaro he’d score many goals this season, because even during the periods when he wasn’t finding the net, he still worked at his best in training and it was only a matter of time.”
Inzaghi was asked about his biggest regret from this debut season on the Inter bench and chose a game outside of Serie A.
“The first leg with Liverpool is the one I regret. Liverpool lost one game in 2022 and that was against Inter. If we hadn’t gone down to 10 men, who knows what might’ve happened?
“I look back over a season with two trophies lifted, we’re still in the running for the Scudetto to the final game, I never could’ve expected all of this and our European march was also stopped only by Liverpool.”