Former Nerazzurri coach Mircea Lucescu feels that Inter Milan must aim to win the Champions League next season.
The Romanian tactician spoke to Italian news outlet TuttoMercatoWeb. He stressed that the Nerazzurri must have European ambitions.
In the season just gone, the biggest disappointment for Inter by far came in the form of a relatively early Champions League elimination.
The Nerazzurri did make it through to the knockouts of the competition. That is always the first priority.
But it was a penalty shootout exit from the round of sixteen at the hands of Atletico Madrid.
Whilst a loss to a team like Atletico is always a possibility, the particular manner of Inter’s elimination stung.
The Nerazzurri had at one point been up 2-0 on aggregate against the Spanish team.
However, Atletico fought back. They scored not long after that second goal in the tie – and from then on, had all the momentum.
Inter crumbled in the Spanish capital to go out of the Champions League.
Mircea Lucescu: “Inter Have To Try To Win The Champions League”
The previous season, Inter had gone as far as the final of the Champions League.
That was a testament to the fact that the Nerazzurri certainly are capable of making a deep run in Europe’s top club competition around.
And that was despite the fact that Inter had been an wildly erratic form in the league.
Therefore, if anything the Nerazzurri’s dominant form in winning the Serie A title only raised expectations in Europe.
As far as next season, former Inter coach Lucescu said that “Simone Inzaghi will dictate the guidelines for winning in Europe.”
The former coach argued that “Winning Serie A is no longer enough for Inter.”
“They also need to be competitive in the Champions League,” he continued.
“It’s time for them to seriously try to win it.”
