Former Inter coach Alberto Zaccheroni assessed tomorrow’s Serie A match between the Nerazzurri and Atalanta, whilst also praising striker Romelu Lukaku.
The league leaders welcome La Dea to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza as they look to extend their nine match unbeaten run in Serie A, and Zaccheroni was expecting a fascinating encounter between two attacking teams.
“[Duvan] Zapata, [Luis] Muriel and [Josip] Ilicic have a lot of quality, but lack the consistency of Inter’s strikers,” the former Japan coach declared in an interview published in today’s newspaper edition of Tuttosport.
“Lukaku and Lautaro [Martinez], apart from Cristiano Ronaldo, are the two most important and effective forwards in the league.
“In my opinion, the Ballon d’Or must go to a player who shifts the balance in favour of his side, with technique and physicality because these are both important qualities. In Serie A there is no player that can knock Lukaku off the ball, perhaps only [AC Milan midfielder Franck] Kessie. When he receives the ball and starts to run, he is unstoppable.”
The match against Atalanta will see Inter full-back Achraf Hakimi come up against Robin Gosens, and Zaccheroni was looking forward to seeing that battle play out.
“They have pace and quality. You can see the work of the coaches in them and see that they have developed an understanding out of possession. They are the two best wingers in Serie A.
“At the start of the season, Hakimi had ups and downs but congratulations to Antonio Conte, he has instilled consistency in him.”
Inter have also enjoyed a return to form of Chile forward Alexis Sanchez after he netted a brace against Parma on Thursday, and Zaccheroni pointed to this as a reason why he believed the Nerazzurri could win the Scudetto.
“Before he had not impressed me but against Parma we saw more of his creativity. When there is a real possibility of winning something and you can see the finish line, you don’t even have to motivate your players anymore. This is how Inter are now, and this is why they will be hard to stop,” Zaccheroni concluded.
The 67-year-old led Inter from October 2003 to June 2004, having previously won the Scudetto with AC Milan in 1999.
