Everything as expected. TheInter beats the Feyenoord and qualifies for Champions League quarter-finals, where he will face the Bayern Munich, who in turn won the German derby against Bayer Leverkusen. And so, while waiting for today's matches (great anticipation for the Madrid derby between Atletico and Real), the framework of the best eight in Europe is starting to take shape: in addition to the Nerazzurri and the Bavarians, in fact, the club is already part of the PSG (qualification on penalties against Liverpool) and Barcelona (3-1 over Benfica).
Inter – Feyenoord 2-1: Inzaghi flies to the quarter-finals, will challenge Kompany's Bayern Munich
Inzaghi thus adds another notch towards the Great Dream, that is, to compete until the end for all the objectives. The elimination with Feyenoord, to tell the truth, had already taken a fairly precise direction after the 2-0 of the first leg, but the work had to be completed, possibly conserving energy for Bergamo. Mission accomplished, as befits the great teams: managing, after all, is not something for everyone, especially on trap nights like these.
The Nerazzurri coach, as widely anticipated, chose to ration his strength both from the start (Lautaro) and during the match (Calhanoglu came off after an hour, while in the 71st minute it was Thuram's turn), without however losing sight of the most important objective, therefore the pass to the "VIP zone" of the Champions League. De Vrij and Frattesi's ailments may have spoiled the plans a bit, but nothing that could ruin the evening. and the partial finish line deservedly achieved by a team that was focused and “bad” enough, capable of finding the goal that dispelled the ghosts after just 8' with Thuram. After having missed the doubling with Taremi, a lack of concentration by Calhanoglu led to a penalty being awarded to Feyenoord, which was coolly converted by Moder (42'), but the Turk himself, at the start of the second half, restored order, scoring the 2-1 from the spot after a foul by Beelen on Taremi (51').
For the director, as for Thuram, the match lasted just over an hour. Enough time to try to improve one's physical condition, without forcing, but by confronting one's limits and one's pain. The Frenchman, before leaving the field, also hit the crossbar, and then left space at the end for the youngsters Cocchi and Berenbruch, who made their debut on a dream stage. Now, after the break for the national teams, it will be time for the quarterfinals, with the bar that will be raised even further: on Inter's path to the final in Munich will be the team that most of all wants to be a protagonist on May 31st, namely Kompany's Bayern. However, this will only be thought about in a few weeks, because Inter's calendar is so tight that it does not allow for any kind of time leaps.
Inzaghi: “I hear little praise, but the boys deserve it. We can play against Bayern”
“We really cared about it, the boys were great – he exulted Inzaghi -. I continue to fill them with praise, they deserve it for what they are doing and I hear few around, even if what our fans do during the games is enough for us. Every day we learn more and more, updating ourselves. The first year we played for the Scudetto, we won the Coppa Italia, the Supercoppa and in the Champions League we met Real and Liverpool who met in the final. These guys really need to be hugged: I do it and our fans do it. These games are tiring, but finishing them like this gives us great joy. I know what it means to coach Inter, this was my two hundredth game: many joys and some disappointments, but every competition must be honored for the good of the team. Quarterfinals against Bayern? It will be a tough match, I met Bayern with Inter and Lazio: we will play it, as we have done so far. We hope to have everyone available".
