De Boer lifts the lid on Inter shenanigans

– Inter Milan’s Champions League qualifying hopes could hinge on victory over Roma tomorrow, and former coach Frank De Boer believes the Nerazzurri only have themselves to blame.

Inter are fourth, 15 points adrift of leaders Juventus and six behind Napoli in the third and final Champions League spot.

Victory at the San Siro tomorrow would see the 2010 competition winners, now under the helm of Stefano Pioli, take another step towards redressing the balance.

But De Boer suggested Inter could be even closer to their objective – if key players had acted

Milan

differently during his ill-fated spell that lasted just 85 days.

He notably faced the fallout from captain Mauro Icardi’s (right) controversial autobiography, as well as the nocturnal antics of Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic.

“At Inter I had to deal with so many things away from football, you lose energy,” he said.

“Every time you thought, ‘Finally, a good result, everything has calmed down’, then comes Mauro Icardi’s book (in which the captain criticised the club’s Ultras) or Marcelo Brozovic is in the discotheque and you have to punish him.”

Whatever Icardi’s past, Pioli will welcome the Argentine back from a two-game ban.

During that absence Icardi dropped four goals behind Edin Dzeko, who shares the league lead with Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain on 19 goals.

Despite firing blanks in a 1-0 loss to Villarreal that sent Roma through to the Europa League last-16 4-1 on aggregate, Dzeko is letting his boots do the talking.

A well-taken opener in a 4-1 rout of Torino was Dzeko’s 29th goal of the season last week.

An Inter win would not only inject life into the race for Champions League spots, but dent Roma’s challenge to a Juventus side heading towards a record sixth consecutive scudetto.

Juve will add to any pre-match Roma nerves if they account for struggling Empoli in Turin a day earlier and go 10 points clear.

Only one of Empoli’s five wins was away and that was a 4-0 rout at struggling Pescara.

Defender Leonardo Bonucci is expected to return after being sidelined by Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri following a heated clash between the pair in a 4-1 win over Palermo last week. –