Legendary former AC Milan and Italy manager Arrigo Sacchi believes that Inter were unfortunate to have lost against Real Madrid in Wednesday’s Champions League group stage opener.
Speaking to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published in today’s print edition, the Italian tactician gave his views that the Nerazzurri performed well enough to get a better result and were punished for an error at the end of the match.
Inter did not get their Champions League campaign off to the start that they would have wanted, losing 1-0 to Carlo Ancelorri’s Merengues team after a last-minute winner by Real substitute Rodrygo.
However, Sacchi believes that the performance was encouraging, and that they could have gotten more out of the match on the basis of their performance but that they did not have luck on their side for the Champions League clash with the La Liga leaders.
“Inter were dealing with Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid,” he said. “The Spanish club is going through a difficult economic moment, which prevented them from making any huge signings.”
“Inzaghi’s Nerazzurri tried to give their prestigious opponent a hart time using speed and counterattacks,” he went on. “They could have taken the lead, but they did not have form up front and the errors at the end, at this level, prove decisive.”
Sacchi explained that “In the second half Inter dropped off and Real grew into it, scoring the goal in the last minutes of a perhaps undeserved victory. The match showed that Inzaghi will still have to work to improve the team, but also that Ancelotti will have his work cut out for him with Madrid.”