MUNICH :Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi said he barely recognised his side as they fell to a deserved 5-0 defeat at the hands of Paris St Germain in the Champions League final on Saturday.
PSG captured their first Champions League title in devastating style, recording the largest winning margin in the competition’s history.
The defeat marked a bitter end to a frustrating season for three-times European champions Inter, who fell short in three major competitions and finished without silverware.
“It absolutely didn’t feel like my Inter out there – and the players are the first to know it,” said Inzaghi, whose side had reached the final with a thrilling 7-6 aggregate victory over Barcelona.
For Inzaghi, the loss was particularly painful, coming two years after his team suffered a narrow defeat against Manchester City in the 2023 final in Istanbul.
“I think PSG deserved to win,” Inzaghi, whose side were last crowned European champions under Jose Mourinho in 2010, told reporters in a brief press conference.
“There is great disappointment and bitterness because the boys have had a great run this season, and it’s hard to end with no titles. As a coach, I’m still proud. We’re not satisfied with tonight’s game. We approached it badly… We didn’t play the final in the best way, but I thanked the boys.”
PSG dominated proceedings, with teenager Desire Doue producing a scintillating performance, scoring twice and setting up Achraf Hakimi’s opener, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and substitute Senny Mayulu also finding the net.
Inzaghi acknowledged his side’s shortcomings, saying that Inter struggled to match PSG’s intensity.
“We were more tired than PSG, who clinched the French title several weeks ago while we were fighting for the Serie A until the final weekend,” Inzaghi said.
“We didn’t play well technically, they got there first… We knew they were stronger than us, we knew we had to be better, but we fully deserved the defeat.”
Inter must now regroup for the Club World Cup in the United States in June, but Inzaghi admitted the pain of losing the Champions League final would not be easily erased and he would not be drawn on whether he would still be with the club at the tournament.
“Heavy defeats and finals leave their mark. We must all start again together,” he said.
“I won’t answer that question (about the Club World Cup). I came out of politeness and respect for you, this defeat hurts too much. You come out stronger from defeats, we’ve been through this before and the following year we lost the Scudetto. I spoke to the lads and we need to hold our heads high, knowing that we came up against a stronger team who deserved to win.”