Marotta: ‘Inter ambition in Champions League is not arrogance’ | OneFootball

Inter President Beppe Marotta confirms they want to go all the way in the Champions League, but ‘we must not mistake arrogance for ambition’ as they take on Manchester City and Arsenal.

The draw for the new format of the 2024-25 Champions League was completed this evening at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

The Nerazzurri will take on RB Leipzig, Arsenal, Crvena Zvezda and Monaco at home, with Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen, Young Boys and Sparta Prague away.

All the results go into a single 36-team giant league table with the top eight going directly into the next phase, then play-offs for the mid-table sides.

“The format is completely new and very fascinating. It’s a very different sense of adrenaline, we don’t know the fixture list yet, but the important thing is to be ready when it begins. We hope for a bit of luck with injuries and suspensions,” Marotta told Sky Sport Italia.

Inter won the Scudetto last season, having reached the Champions League Final the year before, so did they choose between the tournaments?

“This squad has grown a lot over the last few years, in Italy but above all in the Champions League. It’s true that the second star in Serie A represented an important achievement for the club, but we do not choose between the Scudetto and Champions League. We try to go all the way in both and hope circumstances are favourable for us.

“We have given Simone Inzaghi a competitive squad, but we don’t want to put anxiety onto Inter, just the right level of pressure for an important club like Inter.”

A tough Champions League set of games for Inter

Would Marotta prefer Inter to start with Manchester City or Arsenal, or rather to have a softer beginning to the competition?

“I have noticed that the clubs with many international players have struggled to start with, so facing a bigger opponent early might be difficult, but the smaller sides have their own specific difficulties too. We must never underestimate the teams in Pot 3 or 4. The Champions League is very different to the regular league campaign.”

Inter were the only Italian club in Pot 1 of the draw, so are they to be considered among the favourites?

“The media put us among the favourites! We do not hide ourselves, we always said that our objective was to finish in the top eight of the table. Inzaghi might not agree with me, but what might seem like dreams at the start are more than that.

“We must not mistake arrogance or presumptuousness for ambition. It is important to have ambition and the desire to honour our history. We will give our best, if the others do better, we tip our hats to them and try to analyse what happened,” concluded Marotta.

Inter draw: RB Leipzig H, Manchester City A, Arsenal H, Bayer Leverkusen A, Crvena Zvezda H, Young Boys A, Monaco H, Sparta Prague A