Former Inter striker Julio Cruz believes that the Nerazzurri have to head into the Champions League knockout rounds with a sense of confidence that they can win the competition.

Speaking to Rome-based newspaper La Repubblica in an interview published in today’s print edition, via La Repubblica, the Argentine also argued that the Nerazzurri should not completely give up hope of winning the Serie A title.

Inter begin their Champions League knockout campaign this evening against Porto in the round of sixteen.

There is a lot of football that the Nerazzurri will have to play before they could start to dream about winning the entire competition.

However, as far as Cruz is concerned, it would hardly hurt to dream with confidence and optimism, which is a notion that the former striker also applies to the seemingly impossible challenge of catching up with Napoli in the league table.

Of this evening’s round of sixteen first leg against Porto, Cruz said that “It’s being played in Milan, and Inter is Inter. Their mission has to be to score as many goals as possible, in view of the return leg.”

He continued that “The Nerazzurri have always done great things in the Champions League.”

“Apart from Real Madrid, who are always favourites with Ancelotti at the helm, all the other teams can play to win it,” Cruz argued.

“There are no truly stellar teams this season.”

“I wouldn’t hold back expectations,” he added.

“In the league, they’ve lost matches that they’ve deserved to win, it’s hard to accept that,” Cruz went on.

“But even fifteen points behind, you can’t give up,” the former striker argued.

“In 2008 we won the Scudetto on the finalday of the season, in Parma, after having at one point been ahead by twelve points,” he noted.