Simone Inzaghi admits it was ‘a weight off our shoulders’ when Edin Dzeko finally broke the deadlock to beat Shakhtar Donetsk. ‘The Champions League Round of 16 would be a great achievement.’
The Nerazzurri will be able to celebrate qualification for the Round of 16, something Inter have not enjoyed for a decade, as long as Real Madrid don’t lose to Sheriff this evening.
It was again a real slog to break down Shakhtar Donetsk at San Siro, but Edin Dzeko’s double got the points they needed.
Champions League | Inter 2-0 Shakhtar Donetsk: Dzeko brace books R16 spot
“Dzeko’s opening goal was like a weight off our shoulders after we created so much,” Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia, explaining his outlandish celebrations on the touchline.
“Reaching the Round of 16 would be a great achievement, I said that the day I was presented as coach of Inter. The day I signed the contract, I said this was the objective, something Inter hadn’t done in over 10 years.
“Now we’ve got 10 points and have won three in a row, getting this victory just three days after beating Napoli in Serie A.”
Antonio Conte really took control of the Scudetto race after Inter’s elimination from Europe, so are Inter capable of going all the way in both tournaments?
“We are in a good period of form, but we must also remember there are dangers around every corner and a long way to go. We wanted this victory at all costs.
“The lads are extraordinary in the way they follow my instructions and I adapted the tactics I had at Lazio to suit the players with certain characteristics. We have the most prolific attack in Serie A, but are a few points behind and want to catch up.”
Ivan Perisic put in a wonderful performance on the left this evening, creating the first goal and providing the assist for the second.
The Croatia international will be out of contract at the end of the season, so can Inter afford to lose him for free?
“Ivan is doing very well, I faced him four seasons in a row and he was always a problem for Lazio. As soon as I arrived here, I knew he could be a resource for Inter.”
WHat Took you so long ! Juve went to Serie B and made it to the CL finals in 9 years and it took 10 years just to pass the group stage! At least now you officially own the record as the only Italian team to fail to pass the Champions League group stage for 3 years in a row and did not extend it cuz let’s face it – NOBODY will ever break that record – that record will exist for the next 500 years !
What’s Serie B?
Sick burn. What’s a Serie B?
Forza Inter….
A great achievement. Let focus on the last match, if Inter can beat Real, it will be beneficial in the draw of round 16….better to avoid big teams like Man City, Liverpool and Bayern in the early stage
Fantastic game keep up boys
@ I MISS MARCO BRANCA AT INTER
talking about records. no one is as pathetic as you are. well done.
in 20 years time you will be still talking about this, just like you did in the last 10 years.
what a miserable life you must have. just to cheer you up. you´ll be back to serie b earlier than you win the CL.
@ INTER BELLS You are my hero!
Spot on about Perisic! He is hands down in his best form wearing black and blue. His crossing was often shallow or wayward, his workrate has never been a problem but accuracy in all departments was. Now almost everything he does is on point, his confidence is through the roof and it shows. The only negative thing about it is that he just can’t be overlooked and as such is limiting the playing time of Dimarco, who’s the other revelation of this season.
There is another team that has made it to the 2nd Round for the last 8 years…
BUT BUT BUT they lost to Chelsea!!!
Nothing game morons. We were through.
RUBENTUS take 10 years to build from nothing until become nothing again still cant won single UCL.
maybe rubentus need 100years to win another UCL trophy again.
@AP,why thank you. Just doing my best as a seasonal song to bring some cheer. Unlike some,us Nerazzurri don’t understand terms like Serie B whereas some others don’t know what a triplette is. They also don’t have the sense to stay quiet when they’ve just been utterly humiliated in Europe.
@FABIO PARATICI: If it takes inter 10 years just to pass the Champion’s League group stage then it will definitely take 44 years to win another one. See you on 2056 – i hope to be alive then !
@dzurjakcsopi: Am I lying when i say the following:
At least now you officially own the record as the only Italian team to fail to pass the Champions League group stage for 3 years in a row and did not extend it
if I am lying call me a liar but you know you can’t 😉
@I miss Marco Branch at Inter awww no reply to me? Never mind I love your name,I also miss Marco Branca but I have to admit not so much recently. We got this new guy em,lemme think…Rommatta or Marooti or something like that. He’s actually been really, really good. I’d say whoever let him go at his last club must be really sad now🥺.
@I MISS MARCO BRANCA AT INTER
Am I lying when I say that you are the most pathetic person on FI? no. And you know that too. it may be hard to admit, but deep down … you know it. I know it, we all know it.
now it is your turn to tell us about inter not qualifying for the knock out stage for ages for the 1000000th time. Like we have not heard that from you before. So here you go…….
Inter and Juve fans fighting over their european records,
like two midgets fighting over who is taller
Juventus has more World Cup Winners than any other club on the planet.
A club that has been with the same ITALIAN family for 100 Years and not sold themselves to foreigners.
“The club has won 36 official league titles, 14 Coppa Italia titles and nine Supercoppa Italiana titles, being the record holder for all these competitions; two Intercontinental Cups, two European Cups / UEFA Champions Leagues, one European Cup Winners’ Cup, a joint national record of three UEFA Cups, two UEFA Super Cups and a joint national record of one UEFA Intertoto Cup. Consequently, the side leads the historical FIGC classify whilst on the international stage occupies the sixth position in Europe and the twelfth in the world for most confederation titles won with eleven trophies, as well as the fourth in the all-time UEFA competitions ranking,having obtained the highest coefficient score during seven seasons since its introduction in 1979, the most for an Italian team in both cases and joint second overall in the last cited.
@The Queens Half Corgi You missed out a Serie B title!
@ Queens Half Corgi Just kidding. That is quite a list of achievements. Can you filter those for where you didn’t need a helping hand say, from refs?
EARNED ON THE PITCH.
If Juve were so corrupt Inter would want to have nothing to do with them. YET they hire our Legends (Conte and Lippi) after their tenure with us. They hire our ex DoF.
Honestly, build your own stadium. It’s about time.
And just to show I’m fair, Juve getting to the 2nd Round of this years UCL isn’t anything to brag about either. Which is why we aren’t.
Zenit and Shaktar are a wash. But Malmo are slightly better than Sheriff.
@The Queens Half Corgi.Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.Firstly hello I’m a seasonal song sung by those who wish to emote some Xmas cheer. Secondly I was just wondering when it was that Malmö beat Real Madrid in the Bernabeu as I’m a little confused (probably just the time of year,busy busy). Most importantly I just had to say I love the way you emphasize things you want to get across by using capital letters, it’s really impressive and always has a real truthiness to it. While some might say that you say it loud to try convince yourself that clearly obvious and penalised crimes weren’t committed,I say no he’s just dramatic. Enjoy your Xmas fratello,we all need a good one,ho ho ho