Inter Milan head into their UEFA Champions League semifinal first leg against Barcelona on the back of their worst week of the campaign so far.
The Nerazzurri lost a derby against arch rivals AC Milan, which resulted in their elimination from the Coppa Italia at the semifinal stage, on April 23.
That loss came in between two successive Serie A defeats, losing out to Bologna and AS Roma, as Simone Inzaghi's team lost three-in -a-row for the first time in 2024/25.
Napoli have now jumped above them at the top of the Serie A rankings, as Inzaghi's team face a daunting trip to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
Barcelona have been in excellent form all season, with the Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey titles already secured, and Hansi Flick's charges are leading La Liga by four points with five matches remaining.
Speaking ahead of the clash, Inzaghi backed his players and told them to shake off recent negative results on the road in Catalonia.
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"Forget everything about the last week. For four years, these players have done extraordinary things and they keep doing them. The last week doesn't delete that. It's been a great season. We've analysed the last three games. We have to do better, but after four years we're [still] here competing," as per quotes from ESPN.
What did Inzaghi say about facing Barcelona?
As part of his pre-match press conference, Inzaghi hailed Flick's Barcelona, labelling them as currently the 'best team in the world.' However, he also stated his players are not going to go down with a fight.
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"We're against probably the best team in the world right now. We must be very clean technically. We need a lot of components in place to be able to compete against such a strong team.
"So maximum respect, but no fear, we will look them in the eye, as we did against Bayern Munich [in the quarterfinal]. There are great teams in the competition, but we want to have our say."
Inter Milan and Barcelona have locked horns on 16 previous occasions, with Barca bagging eight wins, Inter on three victories and five draws.
Barcelona news and related links
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