Simone Inzaghi believes Inter ‘emerged stronger’ from their defeat to Lazio and warns Juventus aren’t out of the title race, but Liverpool were ‘top of the list of clubs I wanted to avoid’ in the Champions League.
Many expected the Nerazzurri to struggle after winning the Scudetto last season, having lost coach Antonio Conte, sold Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi, while Christian Eriksen was ruled out by cardiac issues.
Instead, they have more points than Conte’s side did at this stage last term, have qualified for the Champions League Round of 16 after a decade’s absence and secured the Winter Champion crown with a four-point advantage over rivals Milan.
Inzaghi noted that nobody saw this coming, including the difficulties had by Max Allegri on his return to Juventus.
“I think Juventus can still have a great second half of the season, as they are a good team and we’ve seen that after dropping some points, they are now back on track,” Inzaghi told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“They won five of the last six, so we have to keep a close eye on them.”
Inter turned a corner after a 3-1 defeat to Inzaghi’s old club Lazio on October 16, to date their only Serie A loss of the campaign.
“All defeats hurt, but you can emerge from them feeling stronger, and that’s what we did against Lazio.”
The Champions League Round of 16 will be in February against Liverpool, when yet again Inzaghi’s Inter are the underdogs.
“We know what awaits us, as Liverpool are at the top of the list of clubs I had hoped to avoid in the draw. We want to reach that date in the best possible shape, but first we’ve got some very intense weeks in January and February.”
The fixture list is certainly difficult for Inter, as in Serie A they’ll face Bologna, Lazio, Atalanta, Venezia, Milan, Napoli and Sassuolo.
The first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 is at San Siro on March 15, with the second leg at Anfield on March 8.
#Inter, #Inzaghi: ‘La Juve farà un gran girone di ritorno, va tenuta d’occhio. La svolta dopo la Lazio…’ https://t.co/TQTxuylZ4P pic.twitter.com/cR9E1MmIQF
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) December 23, 2021
Liverpool, Man City, Bayern. Best avoided. PSG, Man Utd, Chelsea would have had a chance. It’s a shame for Inter as it would have been great fro them to have progressed to the last 8.