Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi feels that forward Alexis Sanchez is well-deserving of his Champions League goal against Red Bull Salzburg.
The coach spoke to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia, via FCInterNews, after the group stage clash. He was full of praise for the 34-year-old Chilean international.
Sanchez made his second start of this season against Salzburg this evening.
The former Manchester United, Arsenal, and Barcelona veteran signed for Inter on a free transfer during the summer transfer window.
This was the second time that Sanchez had signed for Inter. He had also played for the Nerazzurri between 2019 and 2022.
Reports suggest that coming back to Inter was the move that Sanchez always wanted after he spent one season at Marseille.
The Chilean may well have felt that he had some “unfinished business” at the San Siro after his first three seasons at the club.
Before this evening, however, Sanchez had yet to find the back of the net in his second stint at Inter. There had been some positive moments and performances where he hinted what he can still bring. But no goal.
Therefore, Sanchez will have been very happy with his goal against Salzburg this evening.
It was not just that the 34-year-old scored – it was the circumstances of the goal.
Sanchez broke the deadlock in a match where three points give Inter some breathing room in their group. And he repaid the faith that his coach Inzaghi showed in him.
Inter Coach Alexis Sanchez Full Of Praise For Alexis Sanchez After Champions League Goal
Of Sanchez’s goal, Inzaghi said that “It’s very important.”
“I’m happy for him, and he deserves it based on the desire he had to return to Inter.”
“Both with and without the ball he’s important for us,” the Inter coach continued. “Today he played an excellent match, but when I put on Thuram I had to make a choice between him and Lautaro.”
“Otherwise he would have continued without any problems.”
Of the victory against Salzburg, Inzaghi said that it was a “Very important win in terms of qualifying for the knockouts.”
“We were playing against a good team,” he noted.
“At the start we didn’t quite have the right distances between the lines. But after going ahead we controlled it well.”
“Then we conceded the equalizer, and reacted,” Inzaghi noted. “We deservedly won against a team that I knew would cause us problems.”
“We’re on seven points, but it’s a balanced group and every match is important.”
“Now we have two away matches in a row, we know that in the Champions League nothing is just given away.”
“It will be very similar to the return match too,” the Inter coach looked ahead to the match in Salzburg.
“They’re a team who have been playing like this for several years.”
“Today we expected Konate to play but Simic did instead,” he noted. “They have a great variety of players.”
