Inter vice president Javier Zanetti believes his team have a ‘great chance’ against Benfica in the Champions League quarter-finals. The Nerazzurri carry a 2-0 lead with them back to the San Siro on Wednesday, and speaking with DAZN (as quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport), Zanetti explained why Inter have a great opportunity in this years competition which they have to take:
“Despite some difficulties in the league, I am always positive and confident. On Wednesday (tomorrow, ed.) we have a great opportunity and we must try to take advantage of it.”
“It is difficult to find an explanation for the different performance the team has had in the league and in the Champions League. We (managers, ed) also ask ourselves these kinds of questions. Now, however, the main thing is to be all united in the face of this opportunity we will have in the Champions League against Benfica.”
“What do I say about the fans? Thank you because they have supported us and have always been there for us. All together we can get to this semifinal that we have been missing for a long time. We hope the team will respond on the pitch.”
“We always talk, although I like to do it more with a cool head, the day after the match. Certain confrontations serve to try to compact and help each other in times of difficulty.”
Inzaghi on the bench? He has always shown great professionalism. He recognizes that the performance in the league is not enough for the value of the team at his disposal. Now there is the Champions League semifinal to conquer and then we will have the last 8 league games and the return semifinal of the Coppa Italia to change this trend.”
“Lukaku? Romelu had this long injury that weighed so much for a player with his characteristics: hard to recover after certain breaks in play if you have a certain kind of physique…. In some moments we have seen again the Lukaku we know, but in any case we are close to him: there are decisive games ahead in which he can be decisive. He has to be calm in his head: I understand his moment and only he can come out of it.”
