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Simone Inzaghi felt Inter Milan’s desire to reach the Coppa Italia final four “at all costs” was crucial to their 1-0 quarter-final victory over Atalanta at the San Siro.
Matteo Darmian’s well-taken winner in the 57th minute saw the holders through to the semi-finals for the fourth successive season.
Having already lifted the Supercoppa Italiana earlier this month by thrashing rivals Milan in Saudi Arabia, Tuesday’s victory took Inter one step closer to picking up a second trophy of the season.
The Nerazzurri are the only Italian side left fighting for silverware on all fronts, and Inzaghi lauded his team’s aggressive trophy aspirations as key to the win.
“We did well against a valuable team,” Inzaghi told reporters at his post-match press conference. “We wanted the semi-final at all costs.
“It was a wonderful evening for everyone. It gives us great pride to be the only team involved in all fronts in Italy.”
Inzaghi believes his side would be closer to the summit were it not for Napoli’s incredible form, winning 17 of their 20 league matches this term, though their sole defeat came against Inter this month.
“We are behind in the league like all the others,” Inzaghi added. “We made some mistakes.
“I also see the other leagues. Bayern [Munich], we’ve seen what a team it is and it has a low points tally. In any other league, with 40 points after 20 games we’d be there to fight for the Scudetto.
“We just have to compliment the progress Napoli has made so far.”
Much of the build-up to the Atalanta clash was centred on Milan Skriniar after the defender confirmed on Sunday he would be joining Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain.
It remained unclear whether Skriniar would make the move to France in this transfer window, but Inter CEO Beppe Marotta confirmed before the game the Slovakia international would only depart in June when his contract expires.
Despite Skriniar staying with Inter and finishing his suspension for his red card against Empoli, Inzaghi left him out of the squad for the Atalanta game, a decision he explained afterwards.
“I decided to exclude him today to leave him alone,” Inzaghi told Mediaset. “But there’s no problem with him.
“He’s a great professional, he trains with us and I’ll choose whether to use him or not each time.”