Inter need Champions League miracle

ANTONIO CONTE is in the firing line with another Champions League failure looming as his Inter Milan side head to Borussia Moenchengladbach tomorrow (4am) with their hopes of reaching the knockout stage hanging by a thread.

The three-time European champions are bottom of Group B with just two points from four games, six points behind leaders Gladbach.

Real Madrid are one point behind the Germans in second place and three clear of Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk with two matches to play.

An Italian team has not won a European trophy since Inter secured the Champions League to complete a treble under Jose Mourinho in

2010.

And Inter need a miracle to avoid a third consecutive exit in the group stage.

Against Gladbach, the 1977 European Cup runners-up, there will be no room for error.

The teams settled for a 2-2 draw at the San Siro last month, with Romelu Lukaku scoring both goals for the hosts.

Inter need to win and then beat Shakhtar, while also hoping other results go their way.

For former Juventus and Chelsea manager Conte, who took over at Inter in 2019, his European record has been consistently disappointing.

Conte tasted European glory as a player with Juventus, in the 1995/96 Champions League.

But the 51-year-old’s best result as a coach was leading Juventus to the 2012/13 quarterfinals.

He took Chelsea to the last 16 in 2017-2018, but this threatens to be his fourth failure to make it into the knockout rounds.

Club president Steven Zhang nevertheless hailed Conte as “a true leader” who would restore the Chinese-owned side to their former glories.

“Last season’s goal was to start creating a winning mentality, then try to reduce the gap with our competitors,” said Zhang.

Conte will be counting on the attacking duo of Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez, who have scored 10 of Inter’s 14 Champions League goals in the past two seasons.

Alexis Sanchez also scored against Sassuolo, finding the net in two consecutive league fixtures for the first time since December 2017 when he was at Arsenal.

But former Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen has been increasingly sidelined, looking set to leave after just a year in January.

“It’ll be difficult since they’re a tough opponent, as we saw at San Siro,” said Inter fullback Matteo Darmian.

“But we’ll keep trying until our exit is mathematically confirmed.” – AFP