Atletico vs Inter results, Inzaghi: This defeat hurts

Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi admitted defeat against Atletico Madrid in legs both Champions Leagues were painful. Moreover, Inter already won in the first meeting.

Inter were eliminated from the round of 16 of the championship, after losing on penalties at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid, Thursday (14/3/2024) early morning WIB.

Inter's hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals grew even greater after Federico Dimarco gave them the lead after 33 minutes of the match. However, Atletico then scored goals through the actions of Antoine Griezmann in the 35th minute and Memphis Depay in the 87th minute.

After extra rounds were held and the aggregate score remained equal, a penalty shootout was held. Inter executioners Alexis Sanchez, Davy Klaasen and final kicker Lautaro Martinez failed to score. Only two players, namely Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi, were successful.

Also Read: Complete list of teams in the Champions League quarter-finals: Spain 3 clubs, no Italian representatives

In the Atletico camp, of the four kickers, only Saul Niguez failed to score, while Memphis Depay, Rodrigo Riquelme and Angel Correa succeeded in finding the back of the opponent's goal.

“There is disappointment for the club and the whole Inter family, but I told the players that they should be proud of the journey they have gone through,” Inzaghi told Amazon Prime Video Italia.

According to Inzaghi, Inter are unbeaten in eight matches and they should be able to perform better at certain moments. According to him, Nerazzurri had one game to play, but made a lot of mistakes and that made the difference.

Rodrigo Riquelme should have given Atletico the win in the final minutes of normal time, but his shot went over the bar. However, Atletico ultimately emerged victorious on penalties.

“We could have done more in legs first, but here we should have maintained the lead thanks to Dimarco's goal for longer. However, we just let them get up. “That makes them enthusiastic,” he said.

Inter hoped to do better after reaching the Champions League final last season, but were instead eliminated in the round of 16. “This team is not used to losing. “Defeat definitely hurts, we had qualification in our grasp,” added Inzaghi.

Even though he was eliminated, Inzaghi admitted that he was still proud to coach Inter. He stated that this defeat was very disappointing. However, there are still 10 matches left in Serie A and they want to achieve a very important goal, the Serie A championship.

“The players must remain calm, knowing that details can make the difference at this level. We should have closed the game, we had chances in the second half. After that, there was a penalty shootout which was like a lottery and they performed better,” he said.

Inter has a big chance of becoming champion of the elite competition in Italy this season because it is still at the top of the standings. Inter have collected 75 points, or 16 points ahead of second place AC Milan.