Inter, Inzaghi: "The boys were very good and worked well"

Manchester, 18 September 2024 – An Inter full of heart, character and quality stops Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium 0-0 at the debut in Champions League: the Nerazzurri were the protagonists of an excellent performance in both phases of the game and managed to play on a par with the Citizens, creating important chances in both the first and second half, managing to cover themselves with great order and tactical discipline and resisting in the final stages the last assaults of the home team, who remained dry of goals at home for the first time since 2022. He could therefore only be fully satisfied with the performance of his boys the Nerazzurri coach Simone Inzaghi: “The lads were good,” Inzaghi explained to Amazon Prime Video microphones, “they worked well. We knew the opponent we were facing well, but they were very good. They worked very well together and we created several situations in which we could have hurt City. In my opinion, in the first half we did very, very well, while in the second half we suffered a bit, but despite suffering we created opportunities with Darmian and Mkhitaryan in which we could have been better. I congratulated the lads and now we have to move forward. A debut against City three days before the derby, this is the calendar and we have to adapt.” What was missing was a bit of concreteness and nastiness in the final meters: “It was the same in the last league game,” Inzaghi continued. “In the last thirty meters you have to have technique and prepare the conclusion better. Clearly it’s not very easy against these teams, but we have to do it because we are a technical team. It’s the first time we haven’t scored after five games between the league and the Champions League. It will be a reason for growth. We work a lot on finishing during the week and we will try to do it even more.” A pinch more selfishness would perhaps have helped: “Yes, Taremi’s opportunity in the first half, where he could have concluded, remains in the eye. Teams like Manchester City and Real Madrid are great teams because they manage to sort out very complicated situations, in which you feel like you are one step away from scoring. In the second half, Darmian could have kicked but he said that Barella called the ball for him and at that point their defender was good.”

City coach Pep Guardiola also gives credit to Inter's great performance: “We knew it would be a difficult match because Inter are a wonderful team. They defended very well and are very strong on the counterattack because they don't throw the ball away. We played very well in the second half, finding the right positions. In the first half we had a good chance and we had others in front of their goal in the second half. They had one with Lautaro. I'm very happy to coach this group, we are a fantastic team and I'm happy to have played and attacked against a team that defends very well and knows how to play with the ball. They are not the champions of Italy by chance. There is nothing that I disliked about my team, because I know who we played against. Attacking with eleven men against a team that is master at covering and counterattacking. In the second half we had four or five chances and you can't expect more. We played better than in the final two years ago”.