Former AC Milan manager has said that Alexis Sanchez’s red card against Liverpool was decisive on Tuesday night but praised the overall progress of the team, according to a report in the Italian media today.
Speaking during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Arrigo Sacchi praised the fact that Inter went toe to toe with a side like Liverpool but admitted that the red card for Alexis Sanchez was the decisive factor in the end.
“Liverpool are one of the best teams in the world and Inter, especially in the Anfield match, did not look disfigured. Too bad for Sanchez’s dismissal, it was decisive.”
He then praised the fact that Inter have come far enough as a team that they can now take a side like Liverpool to the wire in a Champions League knockout tie.
“First of all, let’s start by saying that they have made significant progress compared to last season and are now close to being a top-level European team. We need even more courage.”
Inter won the match at Anfield 1-0 but it was not enough to overturn the 2-0 defeat that they suffered at San Siro in the first leg.
Arrigo Sacchi said that Lautaro Martinez and Marcelo Brozovic impressed him, as well as others.
“Lautaro scored an extraordinary goal. Brozovic is always proactive. And Perisic goes like a train. Skriniar was also good, especially in the defensive phase: of course, with his feet he is not a poet, but you can’t have everything in life.”
He also feels that it shows Italian football is not far from the top, saying: “It says that we are not far from top-level teams, but we must focus on our work. We need to have a collective game, where everyone takes part in the defensive and offensive phases, we need to press more and above all we must keep in mind that foreign teams are better to attack against than to defend against.
“Therefore, we must have the courage to go to their half of the pitch to create dangers for them, and not stay holed up in front of our area and wait for the counterattack.”
