Legendary former Inter striker Alessandro Altobelli feels that victory in this evening’s Serie A clash with Napoli would be absolutely massive in the context of the Nerazzurri’s season.
Speaking to Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport in an interview published in today’s print edition, Altobelli highlighted how a win against the Partenopei could have special significance to Inter, and also praised striker Lautaro Martinez.
Inter will travel to Naples where they will meet Scudetto rivals Napoli, over whom they have a one-point advantage in the Serie A table, albeit also having a game in hand.
A win would give the Nerazzurri a major lift and would also be damaging to a direct rival in the form of the Partenopei, while it would also maintain Inter’s advantage over their city rivals AC Milan.
Asked whether he thought the match would be decisive for the Scudetto, Altobelli replied that “Not yet, but I can’t deny that if Inter won then Inzaghi would have one hand on the Scudetto.”
“AC Milan could keep themselves in it with a win over Sampdoria,” he went on, “but an away win against a direct rival would have huge significance in terms of both the table and morale.”
“If Spalletti’s team were to prevail on the other hand,” he went on, “the title race would be totally reopened and would probably be tight until May.”
He also named Lautaro Martinez as “The best and most complete among the forwards on the pitch,” for this evening’s match.
“Toro is really good,” he added of Martinez, “he has grown a lot and in my opinion has room to improve further. And in the stadium named after his compatriot Maradona, how can he not be even more motivated?”
Altobelli also praised the job done by Inter coach Simone Inzaghi, noting that “Inzaghi came in and immediately lost Hakimi, Lukaku and Eriksen, but he’s built a good team anyway.”
“They play even better than Conte’s Inter, though they haven’t won a Scudetto yet whereas Conte’s Inter did,” he added. “I hope that they can do it though.”