MILAN — Winning the Champions League could also be Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi’s solely probability to maintain his job.

Inter has had success this season, profitable the Italian Super Cup and reaching the semifinals of the Italian Cup. And the group can attain the final 4 of the Champions League on Wednesday when it faces Benfica at San Siro within the second leg of the quarterfinals with a 2-0 lead from the primary match.

But it’s in Serie A the place Inter has been struggling, and Inzaghi is feeling the stress due to it.

Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Monza was Inter’s eleventh league defeat in 30 matches and left the group in fifth place in Serie A, two factors behind fourth-place AC Milan.

“I don’t find it strange,” Inzaghi stated of his scenario on Tuesday. “I’m used to it. It’s higher that they criticize me somewhat than my gamers. This criticism offers us the motivation to work even tougher.

“We haven’t been good enough in the league. We haven’t had an ‘Inter’ season. Like other teams, we’ve had our issues, but there’s still time. We now need to focus on giving our fans a great evening that would see us go through to the quarterfinals. It would be a massive milestone.”

PHOTOS: Inter coach Inzaghi beneath stress forward of Benfica match

Inter has solely received considered one of its previous eight matches in all competitions - though that was final week’s victory at Benfica.

“We know what we’ve done in the cups and that our standings in the league table aren’t what we wanted but our only focus now is Benfica,” Inzaghi stated. “We know that we have the lead but we’ll need to be at our best against a team that hasn’t been getting results lately but is still really dangerous.”

If Inter prevails in opposition to Benfica it should face an Italian group within the semifinals - both AC Milan and Napoli.

Benfica can be struggling. The two-time European champions have misplaced three in a row, a primary for the membership for the reason that 2018-19 season. The poor streak has dented what had been a terrific season for Benfica, which had misplaced solely as soon as by way of the start of April in all competitions.

The first loss on this present streak was at house in opposition to Porto within the Portuguese league, then got here the defeat in opposition to Inter, and on Saturday the group misplaced 1-0 at Chaves to see its league lead minimize to 4 factors.

For Wednesday’s match in Milan, Benfica coach Roger Schmidt could have central defender Nicolás Otamendi, who was suspended within the first leg.

The different groups within the quarterfinals are Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Chelsea.

Musician Noel Gallagher, a Manchester City fan, not too long ago stated he hoped the English group would face Inter within the ultimate “because they aren’t very good” and Romelu “Lukaku is dreadful.”

“He’s a great musician,” Inzaghi stated. “Let’s hope he’s lucky, too, because Inter getting to the final would make us all happy.”

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