'We start again' – Inzaghi determined to learn from historic UCL final loss

Simone Inzaghi believes Inter will bounce back stronger after suffering a heavy 5-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.

Inter failed to match PSG's intensity as they suffered the heaviest defeat in Champions League final history, as a Desire Doue brace, along with goals from Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Senny Mayulu, got the job done at the Allianz Arena.

The Nerazzurri have now lost four of their last five European Cup/Champions League finals. Meanwhile, Inzaghi became the ninth coach to lose two or more finals in the competition, having also lost to Manchester City in 2023 (1-0).

Having also missed out by a single point in the Scudetto race eight days ago, Inzaghi was disappointed, but expects his side to learn from this result.

"We know you can become stronger from defeat. This hurts like in Istanbul," Inzaghi said.

"They were different games; tonight we arrived more tired than Paris. We didn't play well technically, they arrived earlier to second balls.

"We played the championship until last Friday, they won theirs three months early. They have great quality, we knew that they were stronger than us and that we had to be better. Together we were worse, so we deserved the defeat."

Inter failed to lay a glove on PSG, having just eight shots and two on target as they generated only 0.49 expected goals (xG).

Before the final, Inter had one of the staunchest defences and had never trailed for more than 370 seconds in any of the three matches they went behind in.

However, they trailed for 81 minutes and seven seconds in the showpiece, more than in their 14 previous games in the competition this season combined (16 minutes and 38 seconds).

"We start again, with a strong organisation behind us, which has already made two signings for next season and knows that it will have to make more," Inzaghi added.

"They have always been with us, they have not let us miss anything. The board told me and the team that they are proud of what Inter have done this year.

"There is a lot of bitterness. We had many fans who came here to crown their journey, and like two years ago, we didn't make it in the most important match.

"Now we will start again calmly and with conviction. Unfortunately, we have already gone through some heavy defeats."

Inzaghi's future has been the subject of much speculation, with the 49-year-old linked with a move to Al-Hilal ahead of the upcoming Club World Cup. 

Inter president Giuseppe Marotta stated after the final defeat that the result would not cause Inzaghi's position to come under threat, with a meeting set to take place next week to discuss his future.

Inzaghi, who has one year remaining on his contract at San Siro, brushed off questions on his position.

"I don't know how to answer. I'm here out of politeness and respect for you. This defeat saddens me a lot," Inzaghi said when asked if he will be in charge of Inter at the Club World Cup come the start of their campaign against Monterrey on June 17.

"There is too much disappointment to talk about the future. We have given everything we could in the previous 58 games since July 13 last year.

"It would be reductive to talk about Inzaghi's future. As I said before, we can talk about zero titles, but we have to honour these guys, who put everything they had on the field."