Inter, Inzaghi and the club are waiting for a signal. With Lecce forbidden to make mistakes

The match with Lecce it almost counts more than the trip to Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday 14 March. And maybe that almost is too much. This has been happening for three days at Pinetina. That is, since when Beppe Marotta catechized the Interista environment, in the press, saying on TV what Interisti fans have been repeating for months in the office, at school, in bars and on social networks: it’s not good to win matches against opponents admittedly strong – from Barcelona to Naples, from Milan to Porto, in fact – and then draw or badly lose matches against teams that the Nerazzurri managing director has respectfully defined as “provincial”: Monza, Empoli, Bologna, to name but three.

Gold points for the Champions League zone

Marotta’s word, asking for more concentration and continuity, was passed on to the team in Tuesday’s technical meeting from Simone Inzaghi, technician who enjoys the trust of ownership and management, but under certain conditions. In order for the coach to remain in his position after the end of the championship, Inter must center one of the three positions that guarantee access to the Champions League: second, third or, at the limit, fourth, given that the first is now mortgaged by the Naples. The standings say that succeeding is no joke: Inter and Milan are second with 47 points, Lazio is fourth at 45, Roma fifth at 44. Juventus, seventh at 35 points, could go back to 50 if sporting justice he will return the 15 he took from her in the first instance on appeal. There is little to rest assured, in practice.

Between Lombards and Salento it will be a challenge between incerottati

In the match against Lecce, Inter arrives like a wounded animal, after the Dall’Ara debacle against Thiago Motta’s rossoblu. And not entirely comforting news arrives from the infirmary: Skriniar, Dimarco and Gosens they continue to train alone, all three recovering from muscle problems, in the hope of being able to be on the pitch against Salento on Sunday evening. A situation mirroring the one Lecce is experiencing, which is still recovering from the home defeat against Sassuolo and which will have to do without some key men: the centre-backs Pongracic and Dermaku, injured, the all-purpose defender Bashkirdisqualified, and the attacker Bandreturned to Zambia after the death of his grandmother, who was like a second mother to him.

There is life behind Napoli, the increasingly exciting Champions League: the weight of the direct clashes and the calendar

by Jacopo Manfredi

01 March 2023

Four thousand Leccesi locked out of the San Siro

If Inter aims to finish in the top four, Lecce, today fifteenth with 27 points, dreams of tenth place, occupied in tandem by Turin and Udinese, both with 31 points. , almost all already with tickets in their pockets, but for reasons of public order the away sector in the third blue ring of the San Siro has been closed. Result: many will not leave for Milan, despite the expense incurred to organize the trip; someone will go to see the match between the Primavera formations, a category in which Lecce leads the championship; others will make the “Siamo noi” Interista loyalty card, so as to be able to buy tickets in other areas of the stadium. In the forums of Lecce supporters there are those who, resigned, say they are preparing for a weekend of tourism in Milan, between the Duomo and Parco Sempione, with a pit stop on Sunday at 6pm in a bar to watch the race on TV.