Inter defender Stefan de Vrij is glad to have gotten three vital points from the Nerazzurri’s Champions League clash with Sheriff Tiraspol, which he saw as a must-win match.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia after the match, the Dutchman compared the group stage match to a final in terms of its significance.
Inter will know that they have to do better in the Champions League than they have in the past three seasons, in which they have failed to progress from the group stage.
After a loss and a draw in their first two matches of this season’s group stage, the possibility of a fourth successive failure to reach the knockout rounds of Europe’s top competition began to loom for the Nerazzurri.
However, they managed to get their first win of the competition, and in some style, cruising to a 3-1 win over the Moldovan side who led the group going into the match.
“We realized it was a final, with no result today it was almost impossible to progress from the group,” de Vrij said. “We knew it was important to win today, I’m happy we did it.”
