Inter are at a real risk of seeing €60 million in vital Champions League revenues disappear next season, after suffering yet another setback in their pursuit of a top four spot in the Serie A table against Monza yesterday evening.
This is highlighted in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who argue that everyone from the coach to the players are at fault as qualification for Europe’s top club competition now hangs on by a thread.
If just a month ago it had seemed virtually a foregone conclusion that Inter would be able to book their place in the group stage of next season’s Champions League through their league finish without too much trouble, now there is great uncertainty.
One point out of fifteen taken from the last five league matches have seen the Nerazzurri drop precipitously in the standings, giving themselves a lot of ground to make up on the likes of AC Milan, Roma, and Lazio.
Even Atalanta and Juventus can now be felt breathing down the Nerazzurri’s necks.
Exactly how this happened is hard to understand, and comes down to many factors, but from the perspective of the Gazzetta no one escapes criticism.
First, there is coach Simone Inzaghi, who has proved seemingly incapable of motivating his players, and whose starting lineup as well as substitution decisions have often seemed off the mark through the busiest period in the team’s schedule.
Then, there are the players, who have gone through the motions in a sequence of matches where they have largely dominated possession, but suddenly looked out of inspiration once they’ve reached the final third.
There are signs of what this team is capable of even in their underwhelming performances in the league.
Moreover, the fact that Inter are still pushing for a place in both the Champions League and the Coppa Italia finals are clear evidence that this group has enough quality that they should have done much better than they have over their last few league fixtures.
However, the reality is reflected by the table, which now shows the Nerazzurri at very real risk of crashing out of a top four spot that had virtually been taken for granted.
Apart from the sporting catastrophe that this would represent, the financial problem of missing out on Champions League revenues would be an even bigger problem, and could mean dark clouds are on the horizon for Inter.