Inter will feel that their goal for the season now is to secure Champions League football rather than try and chase down Napoli at the top of the Serie A table after yesterday evening’s 0-1 Serie A defeat to Empoli.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, who argue that the shock loss fundamentally changes the Nerazzurri’s objectives for the rest of the current season.
If Inter went into yesterday evening’s clash with Empoli knowing that catching up to Napoli to win the Serie A title would be a massive task, they’ll have had reason to think that it wasn’t impossible.
Had the gap at the top been once again reduced to ten points, the Nerazzurri would back themselves to have a go at the league leaders over the second half of the season.
Moreover, Inter’s statement win over AC Milan in the Supercoppa Italiana was more than enough to suggest that they could have the form to put the pressure on Napoli.
However, all of that evaporated on a night which saw the Nerazzurri fall thirteen points behind the Partenopei with no games in hand and lacking any answers on the pitch.
A place in the top four still looks to be a completely realistic aim for the Nerazzurri, but they will have to fight for it over the rest of the campaign, without the illusion that they are real rivals to Napoli for the title.
