Moratti laughs off Inter relegation talk

19 October 2011 16:35

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti laughed off talk of relegation with his side sitting above the drop zone only on goal-difference.

Inter may be struggling in the league, having lost four and won just one of their opening six games, but they now lead their Champions League group after a second successive away win.

Giampaolo Pazzini scored the only goal of the game to earn the nerazzurri a 1-0 win at Lille and put them two points clear at the top of Group B.

It followed on from their 3-2 victory away to CSKA Moscow, banishing to distant memory their humiliating opening 1-0 home defeat to group minnows Trabzonspor.

In Serie A there is only one team with fewer points than Inter, but even so Moratti is unwilling to contemplate a season of struggle.

When asked about the possibility of relegation he answered: "If you want to wind me up to that degree (we can talk about that).

"Yesterday's was a great evening, it was important for a thousand reasons. It put us in a position to find confidence but there is still a lot to do.

"We have to understand that we are still ourselves. Obviously there's still a lot to do but not as much as it seemed a few days ago."

On Saturday, Inter seemed in crisis having lost 2-1 at Catania to fall into the clutches of the bottom three -- they are level on points with two teams in the relegation zone.

But Moratti was full of praise for his forwards following the win in France.

"(Mauro) Zarate plays in the only gear he knows how, he needs space, he's a player who can beat a man and that's what we need.

"Zarate, (Giampaolo) Pazzini and (Wesley) Sneijder move well and the entrance of (Diego) Milito in the second half gave us more security as he holds the ball well, knows where to move on the field and is an intelligent player."

Moratti also spoke of the visit of Mongolia president Tsakhia Elbegdorj to the team's headquarters.

"It was an honour for us, he's an exceptional person in his role as president, he's someone totally democratic in a country in which until recently it wasn't easy to talk about such things.

"On top of that he's a huge Inter fan and follows all our games on television."

Source: AFP