Inter will no doubt be left with thoughts of what might have been after crashing out of the Coppa Italia quarter-final to Lazio on penalties last night.

With domestically-dominant Juventus already out of the competition at the time Inter kicked-off against Lazio, it represented one of the best chances in a number of years for Inter to win some silverware but it was not to be.

Having now exited the Coppa Italia – on top of the earlier exit from the Champions League, Gazzetta dello Sport report that is it is now absolutely essential that Inter manager Luciano Spalletti leads the Nerazzurri to qualifying for the Champions League again.

Sunday’s match at home to Bologna is now a game that must be won at all costs in order to keep a decent gap between Inter and fifth placed Roma – who are due to take on fourth placed Milan at the weekend. If Inter are to lose and Roma are to win, the gap between the side will be cut to just three points and pressure will almost certainly increase tenfold if that does happen.