“Congratulations must be given to the boys,” said Simone Inzaghi after his Inter side claimed a 1-2 victory over Bayern Munich in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.
Lautaro Martínez’s first-half goal put the Nerazzurri on course for victory in Bavaria before Thomas Müller levelled the match in the 85th minute – but Davide Frattesi was on hand to restore the visitors’ lead three minutes later.
Inzaghi stressed that “it’s the first half” of the tie and that their progression to the semi-final is not yet confirmed, but the 49-year-old explained that he takes joy from the fact his side “were able to stand up to Bayern with determination and courage.”
“For sure, it’s a great match that makes us happy. Bayern’s numbers are incredible and we did something important but we’ll have to follow up the performance next week in front of our fans,” he told reporters in his post-match press conference.
“In the day and a half we had to prepare for this match, we talked a lot. We needed to take possession away from Bayern and play with personality. We did well in the first half; in the second half, they made themselves felt at the start but we always remained lucid and concentrated, as our goal at the end showed.”
San Siro will host the second leg of Inter v Bayern Munich next Wednesday, with kick-off at 20:00 BST [21:00 CEST].