Former Inter, Atalanta, and Crystal Palace striker Nicola Ventola feels that the Nerazzurri were “close to perfection” in their Champions League quarterfinal first leg win over Benfica.
Speaking on Christian Vieri’s Twitch channel, via FCInter1908, the former striker gave a glowing review of Inter’s performance to win 2-0 at the Estadio da Luz on Tuesday, particularly singling out goalkeeper Andre Onana for praise in the match.
Whilst it has been a very up and down season for Inter on the whole, the Champions League has always seemed to see the team find another gear and show their very best form.
This was certainly the case at the da Luz on Tuesday, as the Nerazzurri put in a display with balance and poise to keep yet another Champions League clean sheet and score two goals to give themselves an advantage to hold onto in the second leg of the tie.
For his part, former Inter striker Ventola feels that there was little wrong with the performance that the team produced in Lisbon.
He does find one fault with what he is seeing from the Nerazzurri based on the match, in the form of some less-than-convincing displays by the strikers in front of goal.
However, on the balance of things, the former striker was entirely happy and very impressed with what he saw from the Nerazzurri against Benfica.
“It would have been perfection if they had only started off a little better,” he said of the performance.
“If you want to make a small criticism, the forwards have to do better,” Ventola continued, “at the beginning of the season they were scoring more goals, if they add to that back to the performance, Inter would reach perfection.”
“Credit also has to be given to Onana, he’s consistent and always stands up to be counted.”
Ventola argued that “Progression to the semifinals should now be secured.”
