Inter President Beppe Marotta feels retaining the Scudetto would be ‘an historic achievement,’ but they also ‘must do better in the Champions League’ while competing with financial powerhouses.
Their pre-season training started today at the Appiano Gentile complex, where they are going into the new season as the reigning Champions of Italy, having won both the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia.
Marotta raises the bar for Inter
“We are privileged to be here starting the new season as reigning holders of the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles,” said Marotta in his press conference.
“We’re very proud of two hard-fought victories, won thanks to our work ethic, sense of belonging, and the abilities of the coach, players and support of the club.
“Now we start by wiping the slate clean. We have fresh objectives, we are the only team participating in four competitions: Serie A, Champions League, Supercoppa Italiana and Coppa Italia. The Supercoppa will be just a one-off game with Lazio.”
It was a largely unexpected success story considering the change of coach from Simone Inzaghi to Cristian Chivu, but the trade-off was a poor Champions League showing this time around.
“These are all prestigious targets, but we must do better in the Champions League,” continued Marotta.
“Last season we went out to Bodo/Glimt, but that’s part of what makes this sport so wonderful.”
The attempts to revitalise the squad this summer have been hit hard by failed bidding wars, most notably losing Marco Palestra to Chelsea.
“We are well aware that we have difficulties and are up against European powerhouses, also in terms of their investment capabilities, but we participate with our work ethic that has always helped us stand out.
“It’s not guaranteed that whoever spends the most money will then win, but we can substitute money with a winning project thanks to consistency, quality, value of players and many other situations,” insisted the Inter President.
While the Champions League remains a target, Marotta warns that domestically the bar keeps getting raised too.
“Since 2020, no team has been able to win two Serie A titles in a row, so this can be an historic achievement. Our enemy within is the risk of feeling sated, so we must resist that at all costs, maintain the hunger that got us to these results.
“We must also do that via a sustainable modus operandi. The football world often sees clubs go bankrupt, and we know that our owners Oaktree arrived during a moment of difficulty. Now we are out of the Settlement Agreement with UEFA, they invested and accepted our needs to improve the infrastructure with €100,000 of investment in the Interello camp.
“Sustainability also means using our youth academy, as we have easily four players who can be used in Europe, whereas other clubs are struggling to meet those criteria. We also have the Under-23 team, the women’s team, all this make us a successful club.
“We’re missing something big lately, but we will try to achieve it, aware of our capabilities, and keep raising the bar.”
