Inzaghi: ‘Inter ready for tough Champions League draw’

Simone Inzaghi feels Inter have been ‘trained well’ in the Champions League group phase, so are prepared for a potentially nasty draw in the Round of 16, including Antonio Conte’s Tottenham.

The Nerazzurri knew this result was irrelevant, as they were already guaranteed second place behind the Germans regardless of what happened at the Allianz Arena.

Lautaro Martinez missed an early sitter and a strong penalty appeal was rejected because Sadio Mané charged down the Nicolò Barella volley with his hands directly in front of his face, so was not making his silhouette any larger.

Benjamin Pavard was allowed a free header on a set play and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting hit a scorcher into the top corner for the 2-0 result, meaning Bayern complete a perfect group stage with six wins out of six.

“Bayern are a team of immense quality, but Inter had a good initial approach, we had that Lautaro chance and the penalty, so if we had gone in front nobody could’ve complained, but we lost to a quality opponent,” Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.

Some of the potential teams Inter could face are Chelsea, Manchester City, FC Porto and Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur, who won their group with a last-gasp goal in Marseille.

“We trained well in this group against Bayern Munich and Barcelona, so we’ve seen some of the biggest opponents already. We fought hard for this qualification and will see what happens in February to enjoy the tournament, but for now we need to focus on Serie A.

“We are coming off four consecutive victories, but we dropped a lot of points early, we know that the fixture list is not simple for us until the break, but we must try to do the maximum.”

Because this game was irrelevant, Inzaghi rotated the squad by giving some rare starts to Kristjan Asllani, Robin Gosens and Raoul Bellanova.

“Everyone had a great game, including Matteo Darmian who was in a three-man defence, Asllani, Gosens, Bellanova did well even against a tough opponent like Alphonso Davies.”