Former Inter winger Francesco Moriero feels that the Nerazzurri’s 2-0 win over Benfica in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Tuesday evening was not at all what was expected.
Speaking to Italian journalist Gianluca Rossi on Rossi’s YouTube channel, the former winger gave his reaction to the match, also suggesting that whilst the Nerazzurri are part of the way there in their quest to reach the semifinals, there’s still a lot of work to do.
Inter came up against one of the most in-form teams in all of Europe this season in the form of Benfica on Tuesday evening at the Estadio da Luz.
Under former Bayer Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven coach Roger Schmidt, the Aguias have been a team capable of playing high-tempo and organized attacking football, with technical quality and good balance.
This has seen the Lisbon giants go their entire Champions League campaign prior to the match against Inter earlier this week without being handed a defeat, meaning twelve matches in total including the qualifying rounds.
This encompassed two wins over Juventus and two draws against Paris Saint-Germain during the group stage, certainly a testament to the Portuguese league-leaders’ quality and a reflection of just how formidable of a challenge Inter were up against.
As such, few would have considered the Nerazzurri to be outright favourites, either on the night or on the tie, while on the contrary there was a sense from many that it was in fact Benfica who were the likelier to take an advantage into the second leg of the quarterfinal tie.
Moriero gave his thoughts on the tie, stating that “Inter have made it 50-60% of the way in the Champions League, it’s true that they’re always “Pazza Inter,” but they’re playing at the San Siro and it won’t be easy for Benfica.”
“When San Siro pushes the team on, it’s really something else,” he continued.
“The support of the fans it’s fundamental, but above all it has a mental effect on the players.”
“Many of us didn’t believe that they’d get the win against Benfica,” Moriero added, “because there have been too many ups and downs this season, so they surprised us.”
