Former Inter president and owner Massimo Moratti has shared his thoughts and feelings ahead of Inter’s Europa League final with Sevilla this coming Friday night.
“If Inter play as they did in the second half of the game the other night, it will be a beautiful match against Sevilla,” he explained in an interview with Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, which appeared in today’s print edition of the Rome based newspaper.
“There is an expectation that reminds me a lot of the match against Bayern Munich even then there were many more fears about the outcome of the semi final.
“Winning in this way gives you a crazy charge, they are games that make you take a big leap in mentality. It is useless to deny that there was trust, we were all convinced that it could be done even if against Shakthar it was a less easy game on paper than the result suggests.
“I didn’t expect such a slow game from them. However, Conte prepared for it well and didn’t let them play.”
Moratti then proceeded to speak on Inter striker Romelu Lukaku and how he has been left surprised by just how good the Belgian national team player has been.
“It’s true that at the beginning I wasn’t very convinced about him but he proved to be an intelligent footballer, who knows how to play for the team and he has improved a lot, even technically. Over the months his usefulness has emerged.”
He also touched briefly on Lukaku’s strike partner Lautaro Martinez, who has performed well in his first season as a starter.
“Then there is Lautaro Martinez who does extraordinary things, he has enormous potential. The movement he made for his first goal against Shakhtar Donetsk is that of a great player.”
Moratti, who was at the helm of Inter for close to 20 years, then spoke on the current situation with regard to Inter manager Antonio Conte, whose future is right up in the air given his recent public outburst.
“I can not really say how important that was. Since then Inter have always won, all is well,” he continued.
“Will he remain without ifs and buts? I think so. As a coach you can’t argue, he’s really good, how can you argue otherwise? Do they say he’s obnoxious? Conte has his own character, but coaches are never too nice and from experience I know that what matters for the coach is the relationship with the president.”
In conclusion Moratti spoke on San Siro and Inter and AC Milan’s new stadium project which will see San Siro replaced with a new state of the art stadium.
“How much do I want to return to San Siro? A lot. I don’t know about the new San Siro. They will have done their calculations, because it is an economically significant commitment and after the lockdown many things have changed.
“Of course, after having experienced so many emotions in that stadium, you have to turn away and convince yourself that it is right and advantageous to make a new one.”
