Spalletti wants no Inter regrets in Champions League race

Luciano Spalletti says Inter must end the season without any regrets as they attempt to secure Champions League qualification.

The Nerazzurri enjoyed a strong first two months of 2018-19 before a run of just two wins in nine games in all competitions saw them knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage and fall well behind Juventus in the Serie A title race.

Having exited the Coppa Italia to Lazio on penalties and crashed out of the Europa League at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt, this season will be Inter’s eighth in a row without silverware.

They remain on course for a top-four finish, though, with a five-point gap to AC Milan in fourth and Atalanta in fifth with only seven matches to go.

And Spalletti is determined to clinch a Champions League return to make the end of the season successful.

 Appiano Gentile
 Getting ready with rondos
 #FrosinoneInterpic.twitter.com/vInfFRmhKE

— Inter (@Inter_en) April 12, 2019

“I met with the club and we decided we shouldn’t have any regrets for this Serie A season,” the Inter boss told a news conference on Saturday. “We must do everything now to reach the treasure: the Champions League.

“Every weekend will feel like that [a final] from now on, but we must focus only on our own results and not make the mistake of thinking otherwise. 

“We need to see the Inter that has been playing recently: one capable of beating anybody, knowing every result can make a difference at this stage of the season.”

Inter head to Frosinone on Sunday, a match in which Spalletti suggested Mauro Icardi and Lautaro Martinez could play in a front two.

“Lautaro is okay. He has trained well, and he could play from the first minute,” he said.

“Top players always find a solution for everything. Icardi and Lautaro are two central strikers. They can play together at specific moments in a game.

“Obviously, one of them attacks the goal more fiercely, but we’re splitting hairs when looking for differences.”