Inter chief executive Giuseppe ‘Beppe’ Marotta has stressed how important it is that Inter make it to the Europa League final ahead of their Europa League semi final match against Shakhtar Donetsk.
“Reaching the Final would be the right reward for the work done by the coach, players and club over the last year and would take us back to a stage in keeping with the club’s badge,” he remarked in an interview with Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia, a short time before the game gets underway at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.
Next Marotta went on to discuss Inter manager Antonio Conte’s recent public outburst and spoke on what it means to have Inter president Steven Zhang back in Europe again after he was stuck in his native China for the past five months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What happened is part the dynamics of all teams. It is all forgotten,” he continued.
“Zhang’s presence is important, it is a new stimulus for the team. We are at an important step. We will play a good match, especially due to the determination in the team.”
He then spoke on the fact that Inter are the only club still representing Italy in European competition this season.
“Representing Italy is a source of pride for us and is further recognition for an entirely anomalous season. Reaching this stage in such good shape is further testament to the good work of the club, players and staff.”
Marotta then went on to discuss the growth that Inter have experienced under Conte’s stewardship.
“We mustn’t forget we only started work with this coach in July, whereas other teams maintained consistency with their tacticians from one or more seasons before that. It inevitably takes some time for the technical and tactical understanding to develop, so doing this well can only bode well for the future as we continue to grow.”
Next the former Juventus executive spoke on the Europa League.
“We’re playing a one-off semi-final rather than home and away legs, which again is anomalous. Having said that, we have seen the deserving four teams reach the Europa League semi-final and they earned their place in the final four.”
He concluded the interview by speaking on having players inexperienced for such situations.
“Many of our players are having their first experience in major European competitions, so we’ve seen them adapt and grow as the season went on.
“There were some moments of naivety, for example taking the lead and then losing to Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund, but we used all of those as teachable moments to learn, grow and improve our experience.”
Inter vs Shakhtar Donetsk is due to kick off at 21:00 local time in Dusseldorf, Germany and the winner of the match will take on five time Europa League winners Sevilla in the final on Friday night at the RheinEnergieSTADION.