Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi feels that whilst Lautaro Martinez is very important, Alexis Sanchez and Marcus Thuram are also great players.
Speaking to Amazon Prime, via FCInterNews, the coach gave his thoughts after the Nerazzurri’s Champions League win away to Red Bull Salzburg.
Striker Martinez proved to be Inter’s hero on the day this evening.
The Argentine scored the winner late on. He did so from the penalty spot.
Martinez did not start this evening’s match.
Rather, the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Marcus Thuram led the line in Inter’s starting eleven.
But with the match scoreless as the second half dragged on, Nerazzurri coach Inzaghi decided to throw his captain Martinez on.
And the 26-year-old delivered, as he has been doing all season.
Martinez has now scored a total of fourteen goals in all competitions this season.
That is a rate of nearly a goal per game for the Nerazzurri captain.
Simone Inzaghi: Lautaro Martinez Important For Inter, Alexis Sanchez & Marcus Thuram Also Great Players
Inzaghi said of Martinez that “He’s a hugely important player for us.”
“He always show great desire, initially he was on the bench then he came on and did well.”
“But I think Sanchez and Thuram also did a great job,” the Inter coach continued.
Inzaghi also gave his thoughts on why midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu played as deep as he did this evening. The Turkish international was often very close to the back three.
“It was a technical decision,” the Nerazzurri coach said of Calhanoglu’s positioning.
“We wanted to build up with a four-man unit. We wanted him close to the action.”
He went on that “This was so that we could draw them out and they would stretch out their shape.”
Inzaghi was happy with his team’s performance. “Regardless of who was on the pitch, we played an excellent match against a very physical team with a lot of running.”
And of reaching the round of sixteen, Inzaghi said that “Qualifying for the knockouts this early makes us very proud.”
“We know that that hasn’t happened in a while. But there are two matches left to go.”
“Champions League matches are never easy,” the coach added.
“If we look at the first half, we had the clearer chances,” Inzaghi argued. “But there were also moments where we had to suffer.”
“But we defended as a team, and we allowed fewer opportunities than we had at the San Siro.”
“Now let’s think about the match against Frosinone at home,” the Inter coach added. “And then we’ll have three tricky away matches.”
