Inter secures qualification to the Champions League quarter-finals by defeating Feyenoord once again. After a 2-0 away win in the first leg, the Nerazzurri secured a 2-1 home victory at San Siro. At the end of the match, coach Simone Inzaghi spoke to Sky Sport, commenting on the success with the following words.
Today was a great victory, earning qualification to the quarters—how do you assess it? The lads were fantastic; I can’t praise them enough because, in my opinion, they seldom receive enough credit. Considering what they’re achieving despite so many difficulties, they’re truly exceptional and deserve praise. We played three matches in six days, so tomorrow rest is appropriate. Bayern Munich? It will be tough—we have faced them before. Personally, I’ve encountered them both with Inter and Lazio. They’re strong and very well-coached, but we will play to our strengths. I’m sorry for Asllani’s booking, as he will miss out, especially at a moment when we are already without Zielinski.
Today you debuted two youngsters in the Champions League… They are two lads who work hard and who are doing very well in the Youth League. They often train with us and greatly deserved this opportunity. Aidoo was also on the bench; I was considering replacing Dumfries with him, but in the end, I decided to take off Acerbi.
It’s rare for a coach to openly communicate how much a victory means to him… I understand very well what coaching Inter means; today was my 200th match, filled with joys and some disappointments too. We aim to honour every match and competition—always for Inter’s benefit.
How much do you think you’ve grown as a coach? Every day you learn and develop. Even in our first season, we fought for the Scudetto until the very end, and we progressed further in the Champions League. These guys need to be embraced—I do so whenever possible, even publicly in front of the TV, but our fans do it especially well. They were with us again this evening.
