According to reports, Simone Inzaghi, Inter Milan’s head coach, never shied away from the pressure of competing for a treble, but that dream collapsed last night with a heavy defeat in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final against AC Milan (3-0).

With Inter set to face Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals in Montjuïc in a few days, Inzaghi is still reeling from Sunday’s loss to Bologna, which saw them lose their three-point lead over Napoli. This defeat allowed Napoli to level with Inter in the standings. After the Coppa Italia derby loss to a struggling Milan, Inzaghi admitted: “I’m worried that this performance isn’t enough. We are mentally fatigued, and this is the team’s biggest issue that we must address.”

The Inter coach lamented: “Milan scored with their first opportunity, while Inter wasted many chances.” However, he stressed that “there are no excuses.” With the treble dream gone, Inzaghi risks becoming the target of criticism.

He stated: “It’s disappointing for our fans, but that’s football. We must congratulate Milan, but I regret the first half more because we didn’t capitalize on our chances.”

Inzaghi acknowledged: “Clearly, we are not used to suffering back-to-back defeats, and I’m concerned.” However, he explained: “Inter didn’t deserve to lose against Bologna, but tonight we lacked energy. There’s no denying there’s a lot of fatigue in the team—it’s obvious—but we must be stronger. We are Inter.”

Inzaghi also warned that “fatigue cannot be an excuse because all teams are tired. We will try to recover in time for the match against Barcelona.”