Simone Inzaghi said he gave Inter little time to celebrate their Champions League win on Monaco on Wednesday, with the Milan Derby now this weekend.
Inter was lit to a 3-0 win over Monaco, who saw Christian Mawissa sent away after 12 minutes and earned them a fourth placed finish in the classification of the 36 team League.
Their reward for end in the top eight is a potential collision in the last 16 against Feyenoord, Juventus, PSV or Arch Rivals Milan for a place in the quarterfinals.
The side of Inzaghi has now won five consecutive Home Champions League matches for the first time since a seven run of seven between December 2009 and November 2010.
And since he went out of the group in the group stage in three seasons between 2018-19 and 2020-21, he moved to the knockout phases in each of their last four seasons.
“The boys were really good at preparing the game with this intensity, it enabled us to take a big step forward,” Inzaghi told reporters.
“We played seven matches of eight without giving a goal. I am really satisfied with our progress.
“It was the first goal of the season (to be in the top eight), we gave a lot about it, and we succeeded with full merit.”
However, Inter has a huge collision in the San Siro this Sunday and takes Rivals Milan in the Serie A while they want to stay in contact with leaders Napoli.
Sergio Conukicao missed a place in the top eight after their 2-1 defeat against Dinamo Zagreb, but the rivals could still face each other in the next round of the Champions League.
“We will try to give them (the players) a few days of rest,” said Inzaghi, adding that he usually does not speak with the team immediately after a match, but this time he has made an exception.
“I am proud of what the boys did, and I told them. I usually don't talk, but tonight I stopped two minutes with them.”
Wednesday's victory was sealed with a hat trick by Lautaro Martinez, with the Argentinian Treble that marked a little history of Champions League for the Nerazzurri.
Martinez's hat trick brought him level with Sandro Mazzola (17) as leading scorers of Inter in the history of the European Cup. It was also the first Champions League-Hattrick of the club since Samuel Eto'o in September 2010 yielded a against Werder Bremen.
The punishment of the Argentinian after three minutes and 16 seconds was the earliest spot kick that scored in a Champions League match since March 2020, when Josip Ilicic scored for Atalanta against Valencia after just two minutes and 47 seconds.
Martinez was part of the side that lost in the 2022-23 final of Manchester City, and said that Inter has a big chance to reach the showpiece competition in Munich, but again, had his full attention on their collision with Milan this weekend.
“Inter is a great team that needs to be respected,” said Martinez. “We showed it two years ago by reaching the final against City, even last year we earned more.
“When you enter the competition with the right mindset, the games develop in the best way. After the red card we have checked the game well.
“Now, however, we have to think of the derby. We can no longer lose points in the competition.”
Comments