End of dreams. Inter comes out defeated by the postponement with Sampdoria and says goodbye, barring incredible twists, to that third place announced in the summer as their first goal and instead a good 9 points away. Definitely too many with only 8 days available and this beyond the direct clash on April 30th: the comeback seems destined to remain a chimera.
“If this were the final classification, we would be talking about a negative season – Pioli sighed – The championship doesn't end today, however, and we still have time to get up and show everyone that we are not second-half players. Unfortunately after our goal we fell apart, we started thinking individually and made mistakes that we had to avoid. My future? I am neither worried nor fearful, we have lost an opportunity but we will have others”.
The coach doesn't want to give up but the standings speak for themselves: to date, not even the Europa League is a sure goal, let alone the Champions League. Sure, a win against Sampdoria would have changed the scenario and Inter had it in hand for most of the match.
D'Ambrosio's goal (35', decisive deviation from Bereszynski) seemed to be able to put everything downhill but in the second half the Nerazzurri got distracted and Giampaolo's men, an increasingly incisive coach, overturned every perspective. First Schick with a header (50', he himself considered Ausilio's goal), then, when the match seemed destined for a draw, Quagliarella on a penalty, decreed by the referee Celi for a hand ball by Brozovic as clear as it was useless (85') .
“The Champions League is gone but we have the Europa League left – Icardi's bitter comment – We have to try to win as many games as possible, otherwise it will be a failure”. Now we need to roll up our sleeves and keep our motivation high. Because Pioli has worked above all on those up to now and the team, at least until yesterday, has almost always paid him back.
From today, however, we need to familiarize ourselves with the concept that third place is practically gone, and despite this, we need to find hunger and competitive wickedness again. Otherwise the season finale, rather than a furious attack on the standings, could become a big problem.
