"We Hope To Avoid Real Madrid"... Says Inter Vice-president Javier Zanetti.

Inter Milan Vice-President Javier Zanetti would ideally like to avoid Real Madrid in the upcoming Champions League final.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia, via FCInterNews, the Nerazzurri Vice-President named Los Blancos as a team he wouldn’t want to face, due to their incredible pedigree in Europe’s top club competition.

Inter can officially start thinking about who they might face in the Champions League final in Istanbul next month.

The Nerazzurri carried a 2-0 lead from the first leg, and put in a professional performance against bitter rivals AC Milan in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final to win 1-0 (3-0 on aggregate), courtesy of a Lautaro Martinez strike and Romelu Lukaku's assist in the 74th minute.

They have qualified for the Champions League final for the first time in 13 years, since Jose Mourinho's side's incredible triumph in 2010.

 

Inter won’t have to wait too long to see who they’ll face as Manchester City host holders Real Madrid in the other semifinal second leg mouth-watering game at the Etihad stadium on Wednesday night.  The tie is balanced on a knife’s edge after a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Bernabeu.

When asked who he hopes wins the other semifinal, Zanetti replied “Difficult to say, but I’d like to avoid Real Madrid, since at the moment this competition seems made for them.”

“But the most important thing is that we got there,” he continued. “It was a difficult path for us, a derby in the semifinal isn’t easy.”

“I had to be on the losing side in 2003,” Zanetti noted, looking back to losing in a semifinal as a player.

Asked if he can still recall the group stage draw, when the Nerazzurri were paired with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Zanetti said “Of course. It was tough.”

“We did something incredible,” he said of getting out of that “group of death.”

“The biggest congratulations go to the team and the coach,” Zanetti observed. “They knew how to react in the difficult moments.”

“He didn’t talk much, and showed they’re worthy of the final.”

The 2022/23 season has once again seen Inter go without a Serie A title but reaching the final of a European competition with Manchester City or Real Madrid left to face, will see the club earn £76.9m in performance-based prize money from this season's competition but could rise to £80.8million should they eventually emerge champions of the competition.

Manager Simone Inzaghi, made a startling revelation that Inter had asked him to only reach the Round of 16 after he took over from Antonio Conte, as the team management thought it was an appropriate target given their recent miseries in the continental tournament and lack of big-money signings.

He told Sport Mediaset after the match;"I was asked 19 months ago to reach the Champions League Round of 16, which the club hadn’t managed it since 2011. I thought last season’s Champions League run was very good, this one even better. Nobody gave us anything for free, we faced strong opponents and earned our place in the final," 

“In the next few days we might realise what happened. It was a dream at the start, but we always believed, had an extraordinary run and to win the semi-final in a derby this way is immensely satisfying. We can only praise the lads. 

"They showed strength, determination, aggression, concentration, they were wonderful. We played four derbies since January and won all four, we know Milan are the Champions of Italy and have huge quality, but the players were excellent and deserve to enjoy this evening."

Inter next play an already Serie A champions Napoli next on Sunday and will then turn their attention to the Coppa Italia final against Fiorentina on May 25.