MILAN – Inter v Celtic is nearly upon us. Former Nerazzurri goalkeeper Francesco Toldo, who knows the heady atmosphere at San Siro on European football nights better than most, sat down with BT Sport to give his pre-match thoughts on the challenge ahead: “We’ll try and return the favour of the first leg and recreate the Celtic Park atmosphere.
"Inter fans want to help their team into the round of 16. With the fans' help, it’ll be a much easier task – the lads need to feel supported. Knowing that the crowd is behind them for the whole 90 minutes would give their confidence a massive boost," declared Toldo.
Toldo went on to speak about current Nerazzurri boss Roberto Mancini: "The team is improving under his stewardship. Roberto is a very tactical coach and he’s an excellent teacher of football. He’s able to manage the group from a psychological perspective and, over the course of the years, he’s become less instinctive.
"I hope he can take Inter back to where it belongs, because the club needs to be among the best in Europe. We’ll need to have patience, but we’re growing and I’m sure that things will keep getting better from here. Lots of players have come and gone in a short space of time, so now we need continuity to achieve important results," continued Toldo.
The conversation then moved on to focus on some of the issues facing Italian football: "We’ve got five teams in the Europa League and all of them can play a part. Let’s wait and see what happens in the return legs. I’d like to see a similar number of Italian teams in the Champions League. That would be an important achievement for Italian football. Look at the Premier League – they’ve invested heavily and you can see the results. There are better marketing strategies in foreign countries."
Toldo finished up with a few words on the Nerazzurri youth academy and Inter Forever: "Inter have always placed great importance in its youth system. We have an exceptional academy and the recent Viareggio Cup win is testament to that. We produce talent for Serie A and Serie B every single year.
"The club also takes fantastic care of its former players. For example, this evening we’ve invited members of La Grande Inter side to San Siro to commemorate the 1967 European Cup final, just like Celtic did in the first leg," explained Toldo.
