Inter Vice-President Javier Zanetti: “Our Objective Is To Qualify From Group Stage Of Champions League”

Inter Vice-President Javier Zanetti wants the Nerazzurri to improve on their Champions League performances of the last three seasons by progressing beyond the group stage.

Speaking after the group stage draw in which Inter were drawn in Group D against the likes of Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Sheriff Tiraspol, as reported by Inter.it, the Vice-Preident outlined Inter’s ambition to make it to the knockout rounds of the competition.

The Nerazzurri have a notable history in the European Cup and the Champions League having won the competition twice, most recently in 2010, but at the last three attempts they have failed to make it out of their group.

This season, alongside their domestic aims the club will hope that they can get into the round of sixteen, and then see how far their performances and luck take them, as exiting from the group stage is not good enough for a club of Inter’s stature.

“The Champions League for us is a very prestigious competition,” said Zanetti, “We will face Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk again like last year, then there is Sheriff who play for the first time in the Champions League, and we will approach every match with great humility.”

He went on, “We will play against a team like Real Madrid that has a long tradition in this competition, it will not be easy, but as we have always done we will face it with the right attitude.”

“We know Mr. [Roberto] De Zerbi well because he did very well at Sassuolo,” Zanetti said of Shakhtar’s head coach, “now he is the manager of Shakhtar Donetsk. We know that his teams play football very well, so it will be a complicated game.”

“In the Champions League all the games are difficult to prepare for in detail,| Zanetti went on, “we will face this competition with great enthusiasm, knowing that we are a team that wants to move forward.”

He closed by stating the ambitions clearly, “Our first goal is to get through the group stage, in the last three years we have not been able to do it, we hope this time to reach the second round and then we will see what happen.”