Latest news with #JavierZanetti
Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Lautaro Martinez: World Cup winner and Inter hero — so why's he underrated?
Lautaro Martínez must occasionally reflect on the sliding-doors moments in his life. It has been a complex journey from the windswept streets of Bahia Blanca to a second Champions League final in three years. But now, Inter Milan icon status is right there. He can see it, taste it. By the age of 27, Martínez has already won almost everything imaginable: a World Cup, two Copa Americas, two Coppa Italias, two Serie A titles. Almost. Leading the Nerazzurri to victory in Munich would not only complete the set but would make him just the third player to captain this storied club to European glory, after Armando Picchi and Javier Zanetti. The former was the leader of Helenio Herrera's 'Grande Inter' side, while the latter remains the only man to lead an Italian club to the Treble. It is esteemed company to keep. Martínez is unlikely to spend much time pinching himself before his duel with Paris Saint-Germain 's own group of history-chasing talents, though. This is, after all, a man known as El Toro — The Bull — a nickname that fits both his fire-in-the-eyes playing style and his storming rise to the top of world football. 'When I was little, I had nothing. Sometimes I wouldn't know where I was sleeping that night,' Martínez told Corriere della Sera in December. 'These things leave their mark on you. I try to use everything I've been through when I'm on the pitch.' Although those early years hardened him, Martínez took some time to adjust after leaving his hometown to join Racing in 2014 and suffered from homesickness. When Real Madrid came knocking a year later, moving was too daunting a prospect. 'Everything was agreed, but he made the decision not to go… he was not ready,' his father Mario said. That timidity did not apply to Lautaro's football, though. The tenacious striker was a student of the game and paid for video tapes of his matches with his own money so he could analyse his performances. It was unsurprising, then, that he soon found himself as a player. He idolised Radamel Falcao, but at Racing Martínez quickly carved out a reputation of his own as one of South American football's most exciting strikers. Inter swooped in 2018, and Martínez's feats at the San Siro have been staggering ever since. After serving his debut season as Mauro Icardi's deputy, Martínez grabbed a regular starting spot and began to do what he does best: score goals. Lots of them. He scored 21 in the 2019-20 season. Then 19, 25, 28. Martínez hitting double figures became as inevitable as the sunrise. Last season's haul of 27 included 24 in Serie A, earning him his first capocannoniere crown as top scorer and the league's MVP award. That was followed up by another Golden Boot at the Copa America as he scored the winner in the final for Argentina, and his 22 goals this season have included nine in the Champions League, propelling Inter to the brink of history. Martínez's influence goes beyond goals, though. He is a leader by example, a player of buzzing industriousness who has put his body on the line in a year that has been relentless from the Copa America onwards. It almost ended in tears when he was forced off with a hamstring problem halfway through the first leg of a semi-final classic against Barcelona. 'I cried for two days,' he said afterwards. Yet somehow, improbably, he was back on the pitch a week later for the second leg. Inevitably, he scored. The former Inter and Brazil great Ronaldo was struck by 'the expression' on Martínez's face in that game. 'He wasn't well, but he looked like he wanted to devour the match.' Ronaldo told Gazzetta dello Sport. 'I imagine in Munich he will be hungry for the ball.' Martínez's recovery is the best news in what has been a bad week for Inter. Their Serie A title defence ended on Friday when Napoli pipped them by a point, but the Argentinian returned to the bench in Como. He hasn't featured since doing everything possible to recover for the Barcelona return leg but insists he now 'feels at 100 per cent'. 'He didn't know if he would make it, he was in tears at the end of the match,' said Zanetti, now vice-president of Inter. 'He showed he has a big heart… he is our captain and our role model; he has unique garra [tenacity].' Despite his glittering CV and dazzling array of individual honours and records, Martínez remains underrated outside Milan. He admitted he 'sometimes' feels underappreciated after finishing seventh in the Ballon d'Or vote last year, a personal best. Perhaps the memory of the 2022 World Cup works against him, a tournament where he was benched for Julián Alvarez after two games. Perhaps his Inter record is not appreciated widely enough. Or perhaps he simply needs a Champions League trophy to become a top-three Ballon d'Or candidate. Regardless, it has been quite the rise from homesick student to the cusp of Inter greatness. The Grande Inter talisman Sandro Mazzola warned PSG that Martínez 'often scores when you least expect it… and his goals are always crucial'. Inter will hope he's right. It is all or nothing now. The club explicitly targeted the Treble this season but will be left empty-handed if they fail in Munich. It is the ultimate test of El Toro's marksmanship and leadership. 'He seemed in despair at losing the Scudetto. A captain knows how to transform anger into something positive,' Ronaldo added. The time is now for Martínez. Only when the job is done might he reflect on his remarkable journey. Champions League final
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Inter Milan Vice-President Zanetti Compares Current Champions League Finalists To 2010 Treble Heroes – Adds ‘Here's Where The Serie A Title Was Lost'
Inter Milan Vice-President Zanetti Compares Current Champions League Finalists To 2010 Treble Heroes – Adds 'Here's Where The Serie A Title Was Lost' Javier Zanetti feels that there are similarities and differences between the current Inter Milan team and the team that won the Treble in 2010. The Nerazzurri Vice-President spoke to Milan-based newspaper Il Giorno, via FCInterNews, in an interview in today's print edition. He also gave his thoughts on the failure in the Serie A title race. Advertisement Inter Milan are in the Champions League final. They are in the match for the second time in the space of three years. The last time that Inter were here was just two years ago. They narrowly lost to Manchester City in the final of the 2022-23 edition of the competition. Meanwhile, the last time the Nerazzurri actually won the Champions League was in 2010. They completed the European Treble along with the Serie A title and the Coppa Italia. Javier Zanetti was the captain of Inter at that time. And now, the Argentine is the club's Vice-President. Zanetti Compares Current Inter Milan UCL Finalists & 2010 Treble Heroes FUCHU, JAPAN – FEBRUARY 11: Inter Vice President Javier Zanetti attends a press conference during the inauguration of Inter Academy Japan on February 11, 2017 in Fuchu, Japan. (Photo byfor FC Internazionale) Zanetti looked back, 'My Inter was a very strong team,' he said. Advertisement 'But this team is also very strong. They haven't gotten to the final by chance after eliminating Bayern Munich and Barcelona.' 'If we think about the days leading up to the event, we certainly got to the match feeling very fired up,' Zanetti said of the 2010 Champions League final. 'The team had the adrenaline of the players who had won the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia.' 'Now, the coach and the players have to digest the title that slipped from their fingers narrowly.' 'It's something that makes you angry,' Zanetti said. Meanwhile, as far as the possibility that that disappointment in the title race could affect Inter's performance tomorrow, Zanetti said 'I don't think so.' Advertisement 'The guys are motivated,' said the Vice-President. 'Unfortunately, everything happened right at the end of the season.' 'Maybe the loss in Bologna in stoppage time was decisive,' he admitted. 'But now we have to be optimistic. The team believes in it, and it will be a very balance match.' 'We hope for a happy ending,' Zanetti added. 'We can only praise this group that's reach two Champions League finals in three years.'
New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Inter left their last Champions League final with an aura. Now they're seeking immortality
From the dugout at San Siro, Lautaro Martinez and Federico Dimarco were helpless. The Inter captain and his team-mate — a hometown hero and lifelong fan of the club — had already been taken off against Barcelona. A 2-0 first-half lead had been cut to 2-1, the visitors equalised soon afterwards, and then, with only three minutes remaining, Inter's dream of reaching the Champions League final was apparently shattered, as Raphinha completed a remarkable remontada. Advertisement 'I was destroyed,' Martinez says in flip-flops on a sunny media day at Inter's bucolic training ground in Appiano Gentile. The Argentina striker had been expected to miss the game through injury but played and scored regardless. When Inter's medical staff removed the strapping on his leg 'the muscle relaxed and the pain was unbelievable', he says. 'But the nerves and adrenaline brought on by the game were such that the pain passed.' Dimarco was stunned by Barcelona's turnaround. Although the goal felt like it had been coming, it was still a shock given how well Inter had played in the first half. 'There was huge disappointment,' he recalls. 'We weren't expecting it.' In the VIP seats, Lele Adani, the former Inter player-turned-pundit, claimed Marco Materazzi, a club legend, had risen from his seat and left at 3-2 down. Other Inter fans headed for the exits. 'We suffered,' Inter's vice-president and former Champions League-winning captain, Javier Zanetti, says. Below him, the Barcelona bench emptied as the subs and the substituted ran on to the pitch to celebrate with Raphinha, whose goal not only seemed to have clinched victory but also placed his fingerprints all over the Ballon d'Or. It was a tough blow for Inter to take. 'More so me, because if you rewatch it, I was the one who lost the ball,' Nicolo Barella grimaces. 'Emotionally, that was hard for me.' At that moment, the heavens opened. Squalls of rain drenched everyone under San Siro's iconic red girders. But Inter's coach, Simone Inzaghi, did not retreat for cover or ask for a waterproof. Instead, he squatted on the sideline, his suit soaked through, and tried to rally his team. 'Obviously, I wasn't happy immediately after the goal went in. But given what we had done in both games against Barcelona, I knew we still had it in us. Fortunately, my players thought the same. They believed.' In the 93rd minute, Inter's centre-back Francesco Acerbi turned to his fellow defender Matteo Darmian and said: 'Io vado.' I'm off. Advertisement Off where? As goalkeeper Yann Sommer launched a hopeful long ball, Acerbi ran for the Barcelona penalty area. Did anyone know what he was doing? Nope. 'Me neither,' Marcus Thuram says, shaking his head. 'Everybody talks about tactics, but football is football — and then you need a little bit of magic.' Thuram won the second ball, Denzel Dumfries crossed it, and Acerbi equalised, taking the game to extra time. It was a finish worthy of Giuseppe Meazza, the striker after whom San Siro is named. It was also pure Inter — a club founded by artists and poets, one that's just as capable of cutting off their ear (as they did by throwing away a 2-0 lead in both games) as creating a Champions League masterpiece. ACERBI: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 🪽#ForzaInter #UCL #InterBarcelona — Inter ⭐⭐ (@Inter_en) May 7, 2025 'The spirit of Inter came out,' Darmian says. The pazza Inter (pazza means 'mad' in Italian) with centre-backs crazy enough to improvise as centre-forwards. 'Another game began after that,' Zanetti observes. That other game was one that Inter won in extra time when substitutes Mehdi Taremi and Davide Frattesi combined to make it 4-3 on the night, 7-6 on aggregate, and book their place in the Champions League final. 'Honestly, afterwards I cried,' Dimarco admits. 'There were so many feelings inside that I was unable to express.' All of a sudden, the pain in Lautaro's leg came back. 'For two days I couldn't lift my leg,' he laughs. He is fit again for Saturday's game in Munich. Relief swept over Barella. 'Thanks to 'Ace', 'Fratte' and the rest of the team, we did something for the ages. That game will go down in Champions League history.' Before the return leg, Inter's executives went out for lunch with their counterparts from Barcelona. Along with president Giuseppe Marotta and Zanetti were board members representing Inter's American owner, the asset management firm Oaktree. They all agreed the first leg had not only been great for football but fantastic for both clubs' images too, although more so for Inter than Barcelona, who already have an elevated status. Advertisement It is a status acquired relatively recently because as one club's stock rose, the other's waned. Inter were, for many years, the more successful club. They won the European Cup in 1964 and 1965 and then lost finals in 1967 and 1972. Barcelona didn't even make a final until 1986. When the original Luis Suarez and Ronaldo received the Ballon d'Or for great seasons at the Camp Nou, Barcelona were powerless to stop them leaving for Inter, who were then the wealthier club, bankrolled by the fortune the Moratti family made from their Sardinian oil refineries. Even in 2009, Barcelona got the short end of the stick trading Samuel Eto'o to Inter for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. That season, Inter, captained by Zanetti, won the Champions League in 2010 as part of a treble, an unprecedented accomplishment in Italian football. But the overtake was already in effect — even though Barca were, like this year, eliminated by them in the semi-finals. Pep Guardiola, Lionel Messi and La Masia collided to turn Barcelona from big club to super club into super brand. Times were changing. When Massimo Moratti sold Inter in 2013, he likened it to taking the credit card away from a daughter he'd spoiled throughout her adolescence. She had to learn to stand on her own two feet. The club, in other words, had to go from indulgence to running itself as a business. Inter didn't qualify for the Champions League for six years, nor did they win the league for nearly a decade. They were in Juventus' shadow at home and weren't playing regularly enough abroad to transcend. They lost ground to rivals in England, Spain, Germany and France. Serie A's complacency contrasted with the zeal shown by the Premier League in becoming the most-watched and, in turn, the richest league in the world. 'In 20 years, the Premier League has tripled its revenues compared to us,' Inter president Marotta explains. A chasm opened up — and it got wider for two reasons. Next year, San Siro celebrates its 100th birthday. It is one of the wonders of the football world and features on every football fan's bucket list. But it is now a listed building and, even if it wasn't, redeveloping the existing structure would cost as much — if not more — than building a new stadium. A refurbished San Siro would also make less money than a new arena purpose-built for the age we live in. 'What Italy lacks most of all is modern stadiums that can generate higher matchday revenues,' Marotta says. 'That is something that could double our income. We took in €80million (this season), and with a new stadium, we think we can double that. Compared to the rest of Europe, this is our biggest handicap. We are last in terms of investment in stadium facilities and infrastructure.' The other major differential comes down to a simple question: if you live outside Italy, how exposed are you to Serie A? Is it easy for you to watch? 'Another important factor is trying to optimise TV rights sales,' Marotta continues. 'Not so much from domestic rights, but foreign rights. Compared to the Premier League, the ratio is 1 to 10.' Advertisement Inter themselves have always been the least developed of Italy's big three in terms of commercial opportunity. Plenty of potential has either been under-exploited or untapped. One of only eight clubs with three or more Champions League titles, they were 14th for revenue in the most recent Deloitte Money League. Four of the teams in front of them — Paris Saint-Germain (their opponents on Saturday), Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Atletico Madrid — have yet to win the Champions League. Manchester City's first title came at Inter's expense two years ago in Istanbul. Marotta has restored Inter to a level of competitiveness befitting their history and tradition, while also enabling them to punch above their weight financially. This is the fourth Champions League final of Marotta's illustrious career. Only Adriano Galliani, the executive who ran AC Milan for Silvio Berlusconi for more than a quarter of a century, has reached more in Italy. Before Inter hired him, Marotta was chief executive on the football side of the business when Juventus also reached two finals in three years between 2015 and 2017. For the same to happen again can be no coincidence. What's his secret? Is it the winning culture he creates? 'First and foremost,' Marotta says, 'the owners must have confidence in the management. If you have their confidence, you then must have two traits: one is competence, the other is a work ethic and a corporate culture. A sense of belonging to something. These values are absolutely essential. It isn't money that wins things; it's these aspects.' Consider, for instance, the revenue gulf between Inter and the clubs they eliminated on their way to Munich. Bayern brought in €765.4 million (£644m, $869m) from gate receipts, sponsorship deals and TV rights last year. Inter, by contrast, made €391million — nearly half as much. The gap to Barcelona was practically the same, and is even more pronounced with PSG. When Inter made it to the final in 2023, it wasn't only framed as a surprise — it also felt like the end. Oaktree's predecessor as owner, the Chinese conglomerate Suning, had initially spent big. Then, during Covid, Suning came under tremendous financial pressure. In order to continue supporting Inter, they needed to take out an emergency €275million loan at 12 per cent interest from Oaktree, secured against their shares in the club. For Marotta, that meant adapting on the fly. He had to go from breaking club transfer records for players such as Barella and Romelu Lukaku to making big-money sales from Achraf Hakimi and… Lukaku. Signings, with only a few exceptions, were mostly done on a free — this was already a forte of Marotta's at Juventus. Some, such as Andre Onana, have been sold for big profits. Others — Stefan de Vrij, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Hakan Calhanoglu and Marcus Thuram — remain. This time last year, Suning defaulted on its loan to Oaktree, and so the fund enforced the debt and took over. This has stabilised Inter. Oaktree has upgraded the management structure and plans to invest in, among other things, the training ground. It gives Inter a firm platform on which to grow. For Marotta, the brief is the same as it always was — build winning teams — only different. His recruitment staff, which includes sporting director Piero Ausilio and Dario Baccin, are having to adjust again. Inter were the team with the oldest average age in this season's Champions League (weighted by minutes played). But rejuvenation is coming. 'We have agreed with the new owners, Oaktree, who have first and foremost provided stability and financial security, to create a different model and implement it in the coming season,' Marotta explains. 'Investments will be made in slightly younger profiles who represent a real asset, players with potential who are an asset for the present and the future.' Advertisement They will follow Juventus, Milan and Atalanta in enrolling an under-23 team in the men's third division to help bridge the gap between youth team and first-team football, and lean more on an academy that has always been fertile. Italy's championships at youth team level are decided by a series of end-of-season play-offs. 'All seven of our age categories are in them this year. Inter has always had a great youth sector,' Marotta underlines. From producing Meazza and Sandro Mazzola to Walter Zenga and Giuseppe Bergomi, to Leonardo Bonucci and Mario Balotelli. Promising kids have recently been sacrificed for financial fair play purposes — loaned out or sold with buy-back clauses. 'I grew up here,' Dimarco, the son of a fruit and veg salesman from the Porta Romana neighbourhood of Milan, says. 'I've played for Inter since I was a six-year-old. I moved around a number of different clubs (Sion, Verona and Parma), but in the end I came back.' On his calf, a tattoo of San Siro twitches. Dimarco did not see Istanbul as the end of things for this Inter team. Far from it. 'I still remember the words of Guardiola two years ago,' he says. The City coach told Inzaghi not to be too down and that he'd make it back to the Champions League final within a few years. 'And that's what has happened,' Dimarco adds. Inter came away from that game understandably disappointed, but with a new sense of self. They had not been outplayed; on the contrary, for an hour, Inter were the better team against a history-making City side and could — and should — have at least taken the final to extra time. Asked about what Inter can learn from the experience, Barella, a cheeky glint in his eye, jovially says: 'Well, I learned that we can't just play well. We need to score goals. All jokes aside, it was a great experience — a wonderful journey to be on. We've gone and done it again this season. Two finals in three years is definitely no coincidence.' Advertisement Marotta believes something clicked in Istanbul. By pushing City so hard, Inter realised they weren't that far off from being able to win the competition. 'Starting in Istanbul, a process began in which the players became aware of how good they are and this in turn made them mature enough to play on the grandest stages, such as a second final (in three years).' Inter came back from the Ataturk Olympic Stadium with an aura. They swept through Serie A in 2023-24, claiming their 20th league title with a 19-point margin — sealed in the derby against Milan, whom they have beaten six times in a row. The team were a class apart, better even than this season, and should have reached the Champions League final again in 2024. But Thuram's injury and Marko Arnautovic's misses in the first leg of their quarter-final stopped Inter from putting away Atletico Madrid, who seized on a mistake by Benjamin Pavard to come back from 1-0 down in the second leg and 2-0 down in the tie to knock them out. Diego Simeone whipped up the crowd at the Metropolitano to such an extent that it became a 12th man for the Spaniards. This season, the team is another year older and has often had to dig in and be resilient. They were still on for a treble until the end of April and the risk is Inter now finish empty-handed. For a second time in four seasons under Inzaghi, the title race came down to the final day and Inter came up short by a single point. It was hard for them to swallow. Inzaghi left his players alone after the final game of the Serie A season against Como. He then organised a lunch on Monday, a short distance from the training ground, where the players lifted each other and tried to get over missing out on the scudetto to Napoli. 'Everyone in sport is familiar with this feeling,' Marotta says. 'You have to live with the joys and the bitterness of it. To quote Nelson Mandela: 'I never lose. I either win or I learn'. So there are lessons to learn from it, ways to improve and ways to be even better prepared for the next challenge that awaits us.' Football, more generally, could learn that a treble is becoming even harder with an extended and even more congested calendar. Advertisement In comparison with Inter, champions Napoli were not in Europe and exited the Coppa Italia earlier. Inter played 19 more games. That's an extra half a season, and the Club World Cup is yet to be played. 'It's important that we come together to slightly reduce the football calendar,' Marotta says. 'Playing 60 games a year is hard. In my view, the first step in Serie A should be reducing the number of teams from 20 to 18 — as the Bundesliga (and Ligue 1) has done, and as other countries seem to be considering. 'Reducing Serie A to 18 teams and better aligning international calendars with FIFA and the federations would be a major step forward.' Inter fans like to sing about all the kilometres they have covered in support of the team. As they fly and drive to Munich for a second time this season, they will hear about how their team is once again the outsider, as was the case two years ago. This is regardless of the fact that their boys have drawn away to City, beaten Arsenal, conceded only once in the league phase, scored four against Bayern, seven against Barcelona and 114, in total, for the season in all competitions. 'The perception that matters to us is the one we have of ourselves as a team, as a club, and the one our fans have of us,' Inzaghi says. The 49-year-old's own profile should be higher in light of everything he has achieved at Lazio and Inter. The frankly colossal offer that the Saudi side Al Hilal have made to Inzaghi is certainly one form of recognition. Nevertheless, Inter remain hopeful of keeping him because, as Marotta says: 'He's a fine man-manager. He finds the right motivation and does not create excessive tension. He plays a modern style of football by trying to score more goals rather than just sitting back and defending, and this is a brand of football people like and find entertaining.' Advertisement Both goals in Munich, for instance, showcased who Inter are as a team. The opener against Bayern was illustrative of Inter's fluidity with players swapping positions and roles to confuse their hosts and play through them. 'The mobility of everyone can beat the pressure of the opponent,' Darmian says. The winner from Frattesi was a magnificent goal in transition that also highlighted Inter's ability to react to conceding by scoring last-gasp winners with players from their bench. All told, the Champions League is the only trophy to have so far eluded a group of players that has won everything else. Saturday's final represents a last chance for many of Inter's veterans to win this competition — from Sommer, Acerbi and De Vrij to Darmian, Mkhitaryan, maybe even Calhanoglu. It won't be a last chance for the club, however, whose owners look capable of building on prospective success in a way a fulfilled Moratti wasn't in 2010 and straitened Suning were not able to in the event things had gone differently in 2023. Zanetti was 36 when he skippered Inter to the Champions League title 15 years ago. That was his 15th season at the club, and there were times when he must have thought it wasn't going to happen for him or his team-mates. But, in the end, it did. 'Pupi', as he's lovingly called, understands better than anyone what an Inter triumph would represent. 'It would mean writing one of the most important pages in the club's history,' he says. 'Winning this trophy means entering the club's history for real. This group has that chance, and I sincerely hope Lautaro, my fellow Argentine, has the honour of lifting it as captain on Saturday.'
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
All For One – Inter Milan Club Directors Stick Close To The Team As Champions League Final Vs Paris Saint-Germain Approaches
All For One – Inter Milan Club Directors Stick Close To The Team As Champions League Final Vs Paris Saint-Germain Approaches Inter Milan's club directors are sticking close to the team as the Champions League final against PSG gets closer and closer. This according to today's print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews. Advertisement Next Saturday, Inter Milan take on Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final. And today is the day that the squad really ramp up their preparations for that match. Inter coach Simone Inzaghi gave his players the weekend off. They had the chance to recharge after the disappointing end to the long, tiring league season. However, from now until next weekend, it will be all-out preparations for the final. Inter Club Directors Stick Close To The Squad Ahead Of Champions League Final Vs PSG FUCHU, JAPAN – FEBRUARY 11: Inter Vice President Javier Zanetti attends a press conference during the inauguration of Inter Academy Japan on February 11, 2017 in Fuchu, Japan. (Photo byfor FC Internazionale) According to the Gazzetta, meanwhile, the Inter Milan club directors have been present at the training ground today. They will be close to the team until next Saturday's final. Advertisement That means that the likes of Nerazzurri President Beppe Marotta, Vice-President Javier Zanetti, and Sporting DIrector Piero Ausilio are all alongside the team. And in the meantime, today will be the UEFA open media day at the Inter training centre. That means that there will be almost 200 journalists present, and an open training centre. The feeling of a huge occasion is now well and truly upon Inter. They are striving to create the right atmosphere to manage to increasing pressure and excitement.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Video – Nerazzurri Hype Javier Zanetti's Iconic Volley Goal In Inter Milan Vs Roma Serie A Clash
Inter Milan take on Roma in a massive Serie A match this weekend. The Nerazzurri will feel that they need a win in order to keep the pressure on Napoli in the title race. But the Giallorossi will have their own motivation to go for the victory. They still feel that Champions League football next season is an attainable goal. Inter Milan took to Twitter with a clip of an iconic Javier Zanetti volley against Roma to hype up the fixture.
