MILAN – Simone Inzaghi is ready to give Marko Arnautovic more game time after the wasteful Austria forward vindicated himself with the winning goal in Inter Milan’s 1-0 Champions League win over Atletico Madrid on Feb 20.
Arnautovic helped his team win the last 16, first-leg clash at the San Siro after replacing the injured Marcus Thuram at half-time, and he is set for more minutes as his French teammate recovers and matches come thick and fast.
The 34-year-old, who has had a tough season, had frustrated home fans with a series of wasted opportunities including a dreadful miss just after the hour mark which had supporters’ heads in their hands.
But he had the last laugh in the 79th minute, and his coach was also grateful for his efforts.
“He will be really valuable to us as he has been up to now. He and Alexis Sanchez are doing well for how they work, how they train and how they are with teammates,” Inzaghi said.
“He came into the match really well, we were disappointed for the chances he missed but strikers should worry when they’re not getting any opportunities.
“I was a striker, I had periods in which I didn’t have any chances and I was always more worried than when I did have them and I either had a great goalkeeper in front of me or I missed the target.”
Inzaghi also said that he hoped to lose Thuram only “for a short period of time” before he has tests on the thigh injury which ended his match. The 26-year-old has made a significant contribution this term with 12 goals and 11 assists in all competitions.
“He will have tests and we hope that we won’t lose him for long,” said Inzaghi.
It was only the second time the two teams had played each other, with Atletico winning 2-0 in the Uefa Super Cup back in 2010.
Inter wore black armbands as their fans at San Siro paid tribute to the club’s former player and Germany World Cup-winner Andreas Brehme, who died aged 63 earlier in the day.
The Italians dominated the match and, although Atletico had their chances, the home side’s solid defence prevented the visitors from getting any attempts on target the entire match.
The vital moment came when Arnautovic netted his winner with 11 minutes left in regulation time, squeezing the ball home after Lautaro Martinez’s shot was saved by goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
“The chance came after I missed a couple and I’m happy to have scored for the people who came here to cheer me as well as for my teammates and for my family, who were here tonight,” Arnautovic, who has only four goals in 25 appearances this season, told Mediaset.
On the victory, Inzaghi added: “It’s very satisfying. We were wonderful against a physical, technical side that did not make it at all easy.
“We know this is only the first leg, the second match will be tough, and certainly there are regrets for the result considering, with all that we created, we deserved a wider scoreline. But this is football, we keep going.”
Atletico coach Diego Simeone, meanwhile, said that he is positive for the return leg in Madrid on March 13 despite his team failing to pose any threat in front of goal.
“We didn’t have many chances unlike recent games. We controlled the match for long periods but, in the second half, they created more chances,” he said.
“I’m optimistic, we lost today but we still have the home leg to play. We know what we’ll come up against, and how they play as we’ve just played them. Hopefully, we’ll be able to take advantage.”
REUTERS, AFP
