With a great deal of turmoil occurring within the Nerazzurri camp following their string of poor results within the Serie A, Inter vice-president and club legend Javier Zannetti provided his insight on the current circumstances the Milanese club are facing ahead of their significant clash against Benfica within the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
Following the Benemata’s dreadful 1-0 defeat to Monza on Milanese soil Saturday evening, Inzaghi’s side find themselves within a major crisis as Inter currently sit in fifth place with 51 points, two points adrift of cross-city rivals Milan.
The Nerazzurri have failed to win a single match within the Serie A since March 5th and for the first time within their club’s history have lost three consecutive home fixtures without managing to score a single goal, causing their aspirations of reaching Champions League qualification to swiftly evaporate.
While speaking in an interview with Reppublica.it, via Tuttomercatoweb, Zanetti touched upon his perspective of Inter’s current situation, opening up about the futures of both coach Simone Inzaghi and Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku:
And the coach? Do you risk exemption?
“The coach is a great professional, and he’s the first to know that our league balance is insufficient: you can’t lose 11 games. But the team still rules it, otherwise we wouldn’t have won the Super Cup, we wouldn’t be in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and in the semi-final of the Italian Cup”.
What did you say to each other in the night meeting, after the defeat against Monza?
“I like to speak coldly, and I never stop doing it. I tried to understand, to listen. At Pinetina we repeated to each other that you can only get out of a situation like this by staying united. We cannot lose unity. I have total trust, I am a positive by nature”.
Will Inter-Benfica have the last word?
“It’s an essential match for the present and for the future. We cannot simply rely on the 0-2 result of the first leg: if we do that, we’ll have everything to lose. An enormous opportunity that we can’t escape, and I’m convinced we’ll make it. To our fans, I just say thank you. We won’t let them down.”
As a former player, not just as vice president, what have you explained to the team in these hours?
“I repeated that we must be one, united and convinced. I expect a reaction of pride, I understand that the boys feel this responsibility. In my career I have experienced many moments like this, I know that the difficulty arises suddenly and then it fades away. And I know the first response is always mental, psychological.”
What happened to Lukaku?
“The long injury was the main factor. Due to his physical characteristics, certain halts weigh a lot on him. Now he has to react: I told him that we are close to him, and that in this season finale his goals could be decisive”.