Inter Milan Coach Reacts To 3-3 Thriller Vs Benfica: ‘Too Soft At The Start, But I’ll Take The Reaction’

Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi feels that his team were “soft” at the start of their match against Benfica – but ultimately liked their reaction.

The coach spoke to Italian broadcaster spoke to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset, via FCInterNews, after the 3-3 Champions League draw.

The stakes were not very high for this evening’s match, in truth.

For Inter, there is still top spot in the group left to fight for. But the Nerazzurri have already secured their spot in the round of sixteen.

Therefore, there might have been a risk of this evening’s match passing by without much entertainment value or drama.

But regardless of what was at stake, the match that actually transpired on the pitch was a memorable one.

Inter found themselves 3-0 at halftime.

This followed a first half in which just about everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong for the Nerazzurri.

A heavily-rotated starting eleven failed to keep up with the pace of Benfica.

But Inzaghi stuck with the team that started on the pitch. And they produced a reaction.

The introduction of some regular starters further bolstered the Nerazzurri’s momentum.

And in the end, Inzaghi’s team turned it around – answering all three of Benfica’s first-half goals.

Inter Coach Inzaghi: Take The Reaction Vs Benfica

Giving his immediate reaction, Inzaghi remarked that “Having come close to winning, with the reaction we had, I’ll take the positives from the second half.”

“In the first half we should have done better,” the coach admitted. “Including myself.”

“We started the match off in a very soft way,” he said.

As far as whether he was happy with the performances from the players who started, Inzaghi said “Absolutely.”

“I have twenty starters,” the coach said, dismissing the idea that Inter lack squad depth.”

“I can count on everyone,” he went on.

“It would have been easy to make four or five changes at halftime,” Inzaghi said.

“But it was the fault of the team, not individuals.”

“We took to the pitch with a different spirit,” the coach said of how the team came back in the second half.

“And if Barella had scored, we would have even won a very memorable match.”

“Now we know that we’ll face Real Sociedad for top of the group,” Inzaghi added.

“And for now we have a very tough match away to Napoli.”