Inter Milan Manager Blasts Lethargic Nerazzurri Performance Vs Bayer Leverkusen: “Not Good Enough”

Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi was critical of his team’s showing in a 1-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League fixture.

Speaking to Sky Sport after the game via FCInterNews, Inzaghi admitted the Nerazzurri failed to deal with Xabi Alonso’s heavily motivated team.

Almost non-existent as an attacking force, Inter seemed satisfied with a point from the get-go, never putting Matej Kovar to the test.

Indeed, Inter finishing the game without an attempt on target best illustrates Simone Inzaghi’s unfathomably conservative approach.

For whatever reason, Inzaghi trusted his backline to stand firm for 90 minutes after registering five consecutive European shutouts.

However, Inter’s lack of ambition in the final third eventually backfired on them, complicating their pursuit of automatic knockout qualification.

After a sub-par performance at the BayArena, Inzaghi must regroup his troops for the league-phase finale.

Inter will meet Sparta Prague and Monaco in the last two rounds, probably needing all six points to secure direct progression.

But that’s a matter for another day as the Champions League returns for the penultimate round in January 2025.

Simone Inzaghi Slams Inter Milan Performances Following Disheartening UEFA Champions League Loss at Bayer Leverkusen

“It wasn’t one of our best matches,” Inzaghi started. “But we faced a top-quality team that started better, hitting the crossbar early on.

“After that, we controlled the game—perhaps too much, as we should have been more daring.

“We lacked quality in the final 25 meters, and once we had the match under control, losing like this is frustrating because it ends our unbeaten streak.

“Still, it doesn’t take away from our journey.

“Tomorrow, we’ll probably be among the top eight, and in January, our destiny will be in our hands with two challenging matches.

“There’s regret about conceding that goal.”

Inzaghi also opened up on a chaotic situation in Inter’s box, leading to Leverkusen’s late winner.

“Yes, that’s true. There was also a deflection,” he added.

“Darmian saw it at the last moment, Mukiele tried a bicycle kick, and then the ball came back into play.

“We needed to be more attentive. We played worse in the second half than the first, but there were no warning signs.

“There’s regret, but that’s Champions League football. We move forward with our heads held high.”

However, Inzaghi is positive tonight’s upset will not derail Inter’s quest to secure a top-eight finish.

“Not much, but with a positive result, we would’ve kept Bayer behind us and moved closer to our goal.

“Now we’ll see. We’ll think about it in January because, for now, we have the league, Coppa Italia, and Supercoppa.

“We’ll analyze this calmly, but it’s unnecessary to overthink – it wasn’t our best game compared to others, but we respect the opponent a lot.”

Finally, he agreed with the reporter, admitting Inter were way too passive.

“I agree, we did far too little. We only risked the crossbar incident, but we certainly needed to do more.

“When we started building possession, it felt like they were struggling to cope with our play.

“We should’ve added more quality, but today, we didn’t show the level we’re capable of.”