Sneijder warns Sporting before Champions League: Not all understood | OneFootball

Inter was knocked out in the Champions League play-off by Bodø/Glimt, the opponent that will face Sporting in the next stage of the competition. The elimination, after the Italian team had been runners-up in the previous edition, generated disappointment among the Nerazzurri fans, a situation that was commented on by Wesley Sneijder.

In an interview with ‘Gazzetta dello Sport’, the former Dutch midfielder acknowledged the frustration, but highlighted the merit of the Norwegian side. “This year it was like that, but we have to start from a fact that not everyone understood: Bodø/Glimt is strong, they’re not there by chance, they know how to play at a very high level and not just at home. If you’re not at your best, they’ll knock you out. They deserved to go through to the next round, but Inter had important injuries. They played the second leg without Çalhanoglu, Dumfries, and Lautaro Martínez. The disappointment remains, but we move on and the best way to forget is to win the title quickly, and winning the derby will help,” he said, referring to the classic against AC Milan.

Sneijder also took the opportunity to recall his debut for Inter, in 2009, precisely in a Milan derby, under the management of José Mourinho. Now 41 years old and retired from football since 2019, the former Dutch international recounted that the Portuguese coach foresaw the team’s success at the time.

“I didn’t even have time to get off the plane, at the end of August 2009. José Mourinho immediately told me: ‘You’re already playing against Milan’. How many others would have done that? It ended 4-0 for us, it felt like I had known Milito and Eto’o forever. At the end of the game, I realized Mourinho was serious when he said he only needed a number 10 to win everything. He didn’t say it to convince me, he simply saw the future,” he recalled.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.