Inter midfielder Piotr Zielinski says the club’s ambition is to win the Champions League, despite opening their league-phase campaign with a 2-1 defeat by Real Madrid.
The Poland international believes Inter’s performance at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu showed they can compete with Europe’s leading sides. Christian Chivu’s team now turn their attention back to Serie A, hosting Parma on Saturday after the international break.
Inter have collected 13 points from their opening five domestic matches. They won their first four games before recovering to draw with Roma in their most recent fixture. Roma lead the table on goal difference.
In Madrid, Kylian Mbappe and Federico Valverde scored for the hosts, but Inter created the greater volume of attacking statistics in an entertaining match. They had 21 shots to Real Madrid’s 16, made 57 touches in the opposition penalty area compared with Madrid’s 38, and recorded 53 entries into the final third against 27.
Inter’s next Champions League fixture is away to Club Brugge on October 13. Zielinski says the club’s domestic achievements have increased their determination to make a deeper impression in Europe.
“Of course, it is our dream to win the Champions League, and we’ll give it our all, we’ll see how it goes,” he told reporters, as quoted by Football Italia.
“Not everyone can go to the Bernabeu and dominate the game the way we did, by keeping possession and creating chances.
“Unfortunately, we lost on the night, but it showed us we are strong and we proved it in Madrid.”
Zielinski was also asked which teams he expected to challenge Inter for the Serie A title. He named several established contenders, while also identifying Cesc Fabregas’ Como as a possible threat.
“We’ll see as the campaign goes on and try, above all, to focus on ourselves. It’s the usual list of suspects: Roma, Juventus, Napoli and Milan, but also Como,” he said.
Opta’s supercomputer currently gives Inter a 45.2% probability of retaining the Scudetto, making them the favourites. Roma are rated as their closest challengers, with a 22.7% chance of winning the title.
Como are third in the model’s prediction at 9.7%, having taken 10 points from their first five matches. Juventus are given an 8.6% chance, followed by AC Milan on 5.8%, Lazio on 4% and Napoli on 2.6%.