This season, Inter have looked like a team who keep their very best form saved for the biggest stage, as a number of player perhaps sense a do-or-die opportunity to end their campaign with something special.
This is the suggestion in today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who highlight the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that the Champions League will feel like for many players in the squad.
From the perspective of Inter as a club, the absolute priority for the season is to lock up a spot in the top four of the Serie A table for next season, something which is now in jeopardy.
Accordingly, it would follow, nothing is more important than getting back on track with a consistent string of results in the league from this perspective – not even the glory of big European nights in the continent’s top club competition.
However, these motivations do not necessarily align with those of many players in the squad.
As the Corriere highlights, there are more than a few players in Inter’s squad whose future at the club is very uncertain beyond the end of June.
Moreover, the Nerazzurri are a team with an admittedly high average squad age, with a number of players who may be looking to go for the gusto in pursuit of the Champions League trophy, or at least a place in the final of the competition, to crown their careers.
From the perspective of the Corriere, this could explain some of the discrepancy between the team’s performances in the league and in Europe.
Even if fighting for every point tooth and nail in Serie A is massively important for the medium-term future of Inter, considering the financial importance of being in the Champions League next season, that may be a “tomorrow” that is less meaningful to many of the players.
Accordingly, whilst the focus has seemed to drift at times when things have not gone the team’s way in recent matches in Serie A, the players have shown no difficulty in forming a strong and durable unit capable of withstanding any setbacks in the Champions League.