November 25 – Inter Milan, one of the world’s most iconic clubs but currently struggling in Serie A despite being taken over by Chinese investors, have suffered the ultimate humiliation after being knocked out of the Europa League – baby brother of the Champions League – with a game to spare.
Inter were beaten 3-2 by unheralded Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva who came from 0-2 down to score a stoppage-time winner on Thursday and leave Inter facing a barrage of criticism.
It was the first European game for new Inter coach Stefano Pioli, whose team held rivals AC Milan 2-2 last weekend.
“We stopped playing as a team,” Pioli told reporters. “That should never happen and we cannot afford to do that if we want to win games. What matters here is the mentality and we must improve,” Pioli said.
Inter have won the European Cup/Champions League three times and have been Italian champions on 17 occasions.
“The past no longer counts, what matters is the present and we cannot be satisfied with our work,” said Pioli. “We are working on all fronts: physical, psychological and tactical. A team that plays that well in the first half cannot offer a second-half performance like that.
“Inter have players of great quality, but we need to know how to suffer under pressure. The performance was not worthy of Inter. We got too deep and allowed Hapoel back into the game. I changed a few things, trying to recover the balance that we had lost.”
Earlier this month chief executive Michael Bolingbroke resigned, following sacked coach Frank de Boer out of the club.
Bolingbroke arrived at Inter after the club was purchased by Indonesian entrepreneur Erick Thohir three years ago. Suning, the Chinese retail giant, took control of 70% of Inter in June, with Thohir retaining 30. Suning paid €280 million for their stake as part of an overall that was expected to see them invest €750 million in the club.
Pioli talks about recovering the playing ‘balance’ that he says the club has lost. The investors will be concerned about the on-going failures that are upsetting other balances.
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