Inter Vice-President Javier Zanetti makes no secret of the fact that qualifying for next season’s Champions League will be vital for the Nerazzurri.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster Radio Nerazzurra, via FCInterNews, the Nerazzurri executive stressed the significance of making sure that the team play in Europe’s top club competition, whilst he also praised striker Lautaro Martinez.
Inter find themselves teetering on the edge of missing out on Champions League next season, particularly if the 15-point penalty to Juventus is permanently overturned after it was suspended today.
This would be a huge blow to the Nerazzurri on a financial level, considering the significance that the revenues from Europe’s top club competition have for the team.
This has paradoxically come at a time when Inter have been flying high in this season’s edition of the competition, set for a two-legged semifinal tie against city rivals AC Milan next month.
Zanetti noted that “The derby is always an important and special match.”
“But first we have five matches ahead of us that are fundamentally important, and we’re hoping to win all of them,” he added.
“In the league we have a massively important objective, namely qualifying for the next Champions League,” Zanetti said.
“I think that for us, as a club, but also for the fans and for the guys themselves, it’s vital.”
Of forwards Martinez and Joaquin Correa, Zanetti said that “Apart from the goals, the performance of Lauti and then Tucu when he came on were important [against Benfica].”
“Particularly for Lauti who had been unable to find the back of the net for a while, yesterday we saw the joy he felt at scoring a massive goal,” he added.
“They’re two fundamental players for us and, as the coach says, we need everyone to contribute.”
“When it comes to forwards, everyone expects him to always score,” Zanetti said of Martinez. “He’s a very generous player though – he plays for the team, he helps a lot in defense and he’s always the first to press.”
“I think he’s a player whose intensity it contagious.”