Inter director Beppe Marotta again backs coach Simone Inzaghi to turn their Serie A and Champions League campaigns around, albeit admitting they are in ‘a period of crisis’ as they host Barcelona.
It kicks off at San Siro at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).
The Nerazzurri are under immense pressure after a disastrous start to the Serie A season, losing four of their last six games, whereas Barcelona have won all six domestically during the same period in La Liga.
In Europe, they are both on three points as they go head-to-head this evening for the second qualification spot, as Bayern Munich tore Viktoria Plzen to shreds earlier today to confirm their 100 per cent record.
“We need to evaluate this apparent period of crisis, as we lost some of the certainties we had last season and need to find them back again very quickly. You achieve that not just through a positive performance, but also a good result,” Marotta told Sky Sport Italia.
“One must be able to accept criticism with great professionalism and reflect on whether they are right or not. The statistics are certainly against us at the moment, so we have to learn from that criticism and find out why we have lost some of that respect that we had last season.”
There will be a 50-day break during the campaign for the 2022 World Cup, so could that be a time to interrupt and consider sacking Inzaghi, or could he be fired before then?
“The objective today is not to think about Inzaghi’s future. It is important to get results, boost morale and self-confidence, put in some satisfying performances,” replied Marotta.
“This is an anomalous season, so it would be nice to interrupt the season close to the top of the table, then a whole new campaign begins with Inter-Napoli in January and that is an opportunity to close the gap.”
The director again stood firm to protect his tactician, who last season won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana. Is Inzaghi’s position safe?
“Absolutely. It’s too easy to blame the coach, we need to evaluate 360 degrees, it is the club, coach, players who together need to get out of this situation.
“Inzaghi was not here as a fluke, the experience of the last few months can help us to learn and grow professionally so we can improve and avoid the same errors.
“Motivation is fundamental today, we know that we are up against a superior squad, so motivation is exclusively on our side.”