Roberto Mancini claims that Inter Milan do not deserve to finish anything more than fourth in the table for a mediocre campaign.
Mancini set out with the task of getting Inter back in the Champions League. The club has been out of this competition for the last few years, which is impressive given their pedigree in Italian football. Despite signing several big-name players over the last few transfer windows, Mancini has been unable to get consistent set of results required to finish in the Champions League spots.
The lower coefficient of the Italian league in the eyes of UEFA means that only three spots are available for reaching the Champions League next season. It looks like Inter will just miss out on the third spot, which is currently occupied by Roma. Despite the 2-1 win over Empoli, the third place is now mathematically out of reach. It remains to be seen if Mancini will be retained in his job following this disappointment. The Italian did point out to the fact that this was the best campaign for Inter in the last five years. The team has been on a decline ever since winning the European cup in 2010 under the regime of Jose Mourinho.
Two defeats – against Genoa and Lazio – in the last six matches have sealed Inter’s top four hopes once and for all."We would not have finished fourth if we did everything right. The position is what we deserve, because we threw away what we had done for the first six months. In Italy we are quick to criticise all aspects of a team, but instead you have to see the good things that a team does, and we have made progress.We will seek to strengthen the team [in the transfer window], but this is still the best season of the last five years,” said Mancini.