Simone Inzaghi insists Inter ‘will take the point’ after falling behind against Juventus, reminding everyone that they lost here last season following a similar match.
The Nerazzurri maintain their two-point lead at the top of the table, as Lautaro Martinez replied almost immediately to the Dusan Vlahovic opener.
That goal came about when Vlahovic robbed Denzel Dumfries in midfield to spark the Federico Chiesa counter-attack and remained the only Juve shot on target.
“Considering how it came about, we take the point. It’s very difficult to score against Juventus, especially when they have taken the lead. Clearly, we should’ve done better and close Vlahovic down on that goal,” Inzaghi told DAZN.
“The team remained concentrated, we scored a great equaliser. We didn’t create a great deal in the second half, but against a strong Juventus side who are deservedly second in the table, we will take the point. We had wanted to come here and win, but considering how things were going, a point is positive.”
It is already progress from last season, where Inter had lost home and away in Serie A, beating their arch-rivals in the Coppa Italia semi-final.
“The team did what it had to do. We had a very similar match last season, in which we actually created four or five really clear-cut chances and then ended up losing the game. We came to Turin aiming to control the possession and it’s very difficult to score against them when going behind, but we stayed sharp and focused.”
The visitors took more control in the second half and ended the match with 66 per cent possession.
“We expected Juventus to sit and wait for the counter-attack and that is what happened. We knew that we could find Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Nicolò Barella between the lines, but it was tricky. I told Barella not to track back too much after the break because Juve weren’t pressing us as high anymore and were in their own half.
“We had expected Juve to man-mark Hakan Calhanoglu, but that did not happen, so he could get between the lines. It’s naturally not easy to find the passing channels when Juve defend so tight.”
The stalemate maintains the two-point gap at the top of the table, but allows Milan and Napoli to close up on the front two.
“There are several teams built to challenge and more who can push up against the top four.”
The fixture list is tough coming up for Inter, as there are trips to Benfica and Napoli, but squad rotation will not be as extensive as Inzaghi would like.
“There are some players missing, Bastoni, Pavard and Sanchez, while Dumfries returned from international duty carrying a knock. I probably would’ve made other choices without those injuries, but we have to play every 48-72 hours and the lads are always at our disposal.
“I hope Sanchez will be ready for Lisbon.”