Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi is very pleased with what his team have achieved in reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Speaking in a press conference after the match, as reported by FCInterNews, the coach congratulated his players, and noted that the Nerazzurri have now reached the first milestone that they were targeting for the campaign.

There is still a long way to go in the season for Inter, and plenty to fight for.

However, one of the first things that the team will have hoped to do is secure a spot in the Champions League knockouts.

It did not look like doing so would be easy given the difficulty of the group that the Nerazzurri drew.

However, it has been accomplished, and Inzaghi is very happy and proud of his team.

“I think Marotta said it before the game, I heard it when I was in the sky box,” Inzaghi said.

“Tonight we could fulfill what looked like a small dream given the draw in August,” he continued.

“We’ve done very well to get out of the group with a game to spare for the second season in a row,” the coach said, “we hadn’t done so for a very long time.”

“I’m happy for my guys,” Inzaghi said, “for my club and especially for the fans who helped us a lot on this Wednesday at 6:45 in the evening.”

“We did something that this evening that, believe me, should not have been taken for granted, and we’ve experienced being in a group with Bayern and Barcelona.”

Of the impact that the return from injury of striker Romelu Lukaku can have for the team, the coach said that “It will be very important for us, we clearly know that we’ve missed him for the past two months.”

“He’s an important player for us, and now he’s back with a crazy level of desire.”

“In the meantime, the other strikers have given what we’ve needed,” he continued.

“I’m happy for Correa who got a wonderful assist for Romelu, Lauti played an extraordinary match where he deserved a goal, and Dzeko was very good because he allowed us to keep a lot of balls when they pressed us high up.”

Inzaghi noted that “For 45 days we’ve had two, maybe two and a half strikers, and now I will be able to choose from more players.”

Of the impact that this victory over Viktoria can have on the Nerazzurri’s league campaign, Inzaghi said that “It has to give us a lot of self-belief, it was the first, real major objective for the season, which we’ve deservedly achieved as we’ve grown in our performances.”

“We know that in Serie A we’ve behind in the table,” the coach added, “we’re working to try to shorten the gap, even if the teams ahead of us are in great form.”

“I’m confident,” he said, “I have the hope that I can get back some important players soon.”

“There are no matches from now until the break that are more or less important, it’s the final sprint for us,” Inzaghi said, “it’s right that we’ll be enjoying this accomplishment for the next two or three hours, and then we’re back at the San Siro to host Sampdoria.”

Asked if the performances of Alessandro Bastoni and Federico Dimarco down the left flank made the team not miss the absence of Ivan Perisic, the coach replied that “They did very well, I don’t want to talk about a player who’s not here anymore after what we’ve done tonight.”

“Gosens is still continuing to recover,” Inzaghi continued, “he came on and did very well tonight, and in Florence.”

Inzaghi then said that “Bastoni was out for the last two matches, one which was my choice against Salernitana, while in Florence it was due to physical problems.”

“Today he played a great match like everyone else,” he said of the 23-year-old.

“The team did perfectly considering that they had everything to lose, given that everyone expected us to win.”

Asked about Nerazzurri President Steven Zhang, Inzaghi replied that “I have an excellent relationship with the President, which has been going on since I joined here at Inter.”

“There is great mutual respect,” he said of the President, “he’s become closer with everyone in the locker room.”

“We know what the Champions League represents for Inter,” the coach said, “for too many years we have failed to progress, and so we wanted to give continuity after having also reached the knockouts last season.”

“We know we have given great satisfaction to the club and the fans,” Inzaghi added, “who have been the driving force for us.”