Simone Inzaghi has highlighted that Inter Milan had to come through the toughest group to reach the Champions League semi-finals, beating Benfica with a 5-3 aggregate win.
Inter Milan had a strong advantage going into the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal against Benfica, having won the first leg 2-0. They extended their lead in the second leg with a fantastic goal from Nicolò Barella. Despite a goal from Benfica, Inter Milan responded with goals from Lautaro Martinez and Tucu Correa, who scored with the help of Federico Dimarco.
Although Benfica scored two late goals, Inter still won the tie 5-3 on aggregate. This victory sets up a highly anticipated semi-final clash against their city rivals Milan, a repeat of the 2003 match.
“We are very happy, an important evening for all of Inter. We deserved it over the two legs against a team that had only lost two matches all season until then,” Inzaghi told Amazon Prime Video Italia.
“Now we are in the semi-final, it is a dream and we will give it our best. We overcame a very difficult group phase and were united to achieve that. We work to experience nights like this, which Inter had not enjoyed for many years.”
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Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan had to face the toughest group in the Champions League. Still, They managed to advance by beating Barcelona 1-0 at home and drawing 3-3 at Camp Nou. Their only loss coming against group winners Bayern Munich.
“I know where the criticism comes from. Those who speak well and those who speak badly, at times that criticism is suggested to them. I’ve been in football for many years and I am used to it. I work to make the fans happy.”
Despite this impressive accomplishment, there were rumors that Inzaghi could be fired if he did not advance further in the competition due to the team’s poor form in Serie A.
Their performance was not satisfactory as they were unable to secure a win and were instead held to a 3-3 draw.
“Antonio Silva did well for the 3-2 with a good goal. as for the 3-3 my lads heard a whistle and thought it was the end of the match. Despite that, it was a great game and the substitutions really helped. We deserve our place in the semi-final.”
Edin Dzeko again started upfront this evening rather than Romelu Lukaku, so is this dictated by fitness or tactics?
“The objective is to have all four strikers at our disposal and that has practically never happened. The fixture list has become just crazy, but I have to rotate the squad and they help me out.”
