AMAZING INTER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW! And a PROVOCATION...

So this new Champions League has been drawn! The new Champions League 2024/25 was born. Simo, Inter went quite It could have been worse, it could have been even better though. Yes, yes, come on, in the end we are still at the stage where we have no precedent of this organisation, so we are all, in my opinion, with great caution in judgements. But come on, you said it right, it could have been better but also worse. So we make do and we are fine with it, in my opinion. This is the scoreboard, we focus on Inter and then we analyse the Italians for a moment. For me, Juventus was the luckiest of all. Of all the Italians, I think the luckiest was Juve. Inter take on Manchester City away, Leipzig at the San Siro, Arsenal at the San Siro, Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, Red Star at home, Young Boys away, Monaco at home and Sparta Prague away. These are our opponents, for those following us on video in the box yellow-orange, are the teams we will be facing in this Champions which is for the first time in this format. So we will have eight teams, eight different matches to be played, four at home and four away. In these eight games we will score our points, all the points will go into a ranking that concerns all teams. So there will be a single ranking, not there are no longer traditional rounds and the first eight teams will go directly in the round of 16, from the ninth to the 24th team will go in the playoffs, so they will have to make a play-off. From 25th onwards, however, will be directly eliminated, they will not even go to the Europa League. So, Simo, what is Inter's goal in the meantime? Had she set her sights on this Champions League? From ninth to 24th place is relatively easy to get there, because let's say simulations were carried out by UEFA, it was seen that with 6 or 7 points at least 24th you get there, so to the play-offs you go. 6 or 7 points, with all due respect, but between Young Boys, Monaco, Sparta Prague, Red Star, etc., is the least Inter can do, we should not even consider them. So what are we aiming for first? So, in hindsight of the draw, in my opinion let's say that the level credible to arrive at is or in the last places of those already automatically lead to the round of 16, or in the first part of that group that goes to the play-offs, realistically. Then if you do a lot of bad you can go further down, if you do a lot of good you can dream, but more or less realistically we will be there, I think. Because then I see Inter, let's say first, in the top 10 in the Champions League right now. So, this means that if you do very well, you go up a bit in level and you can get into the top eight. If you do yours, you are just outside the top eight and therefore go to the play-offs. Let us analyse this draw. Manchester City and Leipzig. In the first bracket we caught perhaps the worst, or almost the worst, in transfer, between the other, Manchester City. And Leipzig. And Leipzig was one of those, objectively speaking, with all due respect, we would have liked to take from the first bracket. It is in the second bracket that it went quite badly for us. Yes, the first bracket went well. There was a great chance to take two very strong ones and you took one. In the second bracket there was an almost equal chance to take strong and weak ones, because if you took out the Italians you couldn't catch them, you had three very strong ones and three much less strong ones, with all due respect. And Inter here did badly because it took two of the three strongest, so it didn't go well here. But let's say then, looking at the other two less important bands as well, the third and fourth, we avoided Aston Villa for example in the last which could have been dangerous, the third one seems feasible. So all in all I think it is quite balanced with this mole of the second bracket, which is, however, rebalanced by all the others. And so it is right, I agree in chat, as Beppe says, 'We reason game by game', it is clear. But it seems to me that Inter nevertheless has the objective of trying to go to the round of 16 directly, which is a very important goal at sporting level but also economically, because this Champions League, already basic, it guarantees you 30% more revenue. Doing the maths, just by participating Inter takes home 54 million and is the best placed Italian in terms of of market pools, ranking, etc. This means that if you go straight to the round of 16 of the Champions League you already very close to 100 million, when going to the Champions League final League with Manchester City in the old Champions League format you arrived to about 100 million, more or less. So already here you practically go up by a lot and in the round of 16 you have already cashed in what you previously cashed in with a Champions League final. So inevitably, this is probably a great goal, precisely in societal terms, to be achieved. So this Simo will affect the championship a little. Last year, Inter did a lot of turnover in the Champions League, we did a lot of rotations. Perhaps this year they will try, instead, to attack the top eight places and thus the Champions will be very important in this first part of the season. I think so, also because of the ambitions of Inzaghi himself, who until now since his time at Inter has never hidden the importance he wanted to give to Europe. And, as many fans have also said in recent weeks, the fact that perhaps some of the players on the roster, who for example have already won not one but two Scudetti, or even those who have already won one, i.e. most part, virtually everyone, can see with one eye European competition is different. So there will definitely be motivation there. It will be important that Inzaghi manages the rotation very well and that the players a little in the background when called upon, lower the level as little as possible, because it is plausible that perhaps in league, at some stages, they find more space than others. And then there it will be important that they perform well. And then by doing a bit of maths, Simo, we were saying that we will probably need 18 points to get into the top eight. Then we still need a history to understand everything, but in total they are 24 points from the maximum you can achieve. I don't think they will score 24 points, I mean it will be difficult to win all eight of these matches, as it will really count until the last one. Probably 17-18 points seems a little bit the minimum base, perhaps, in order to stay within the top eight. To score 17-18 points you have to be flawless with the last four, so winning all four is 12, place at least two victories between the first two bands. It's an Inter path, that is, if you do Inter you can get into the top eight, if you even take a little extra step in the first eight, if you do your and no more, you risk being in the first ones to go to the playoffs, between ninth and tenth place. Well, that, if you like, is a change from the past. In the high-level projection, in the classic Champions with rounds we have also seen cases of vintages going to the round of 16 with like six points, stuff like that. Here, if you make 6 points, and still if you don't perform at your best, maybe go to the playoffs and then between playing and you can still get there. But to get to the round of 16 first and direct you have to have a good run. If we were only thinking about the Champions League, not including it in the calendar with the 1,000 other commitments, Inter can easily do them the points it would need to reach the top eight. Then, as we have been saying for some time, it depends on how it fits together, it depends on the moments in you play, from the order of the games, because if, for example, you have the last one at Manchester against City becomes a problem if you get to the last one at play for qualification, for example. So we will also understand based on that. But I am quite confident, I must say, and curious above all to see these matches, even some very spectacular ones. And also to understand how other crossroads, e.g. Manchester City that they also fish a major first-tier player, as they go taking points off each other. Because if there are high crossings at these levels and you remove points between them, those we see as stronger than us, for us more possibilities are unlocked. That is, if Manchester City has clashes with other big names, etc., of Real Madrid itself, etc., they take points away, someone takes away and we clearly climb a little higher as a possibility and we lowers the quota to enter the eight. A quick look at the other Italians as well, with AC Milan taking Liverpool, Real Madrid, Club Brugge, Bayer Leverkusen, Red Star, Dinamo of Zagreb, Girona, Slovan Bratislava. Last four affordable for AC Milan, also gets a third bracket as manageable as Club Brugge, Liverpool, Real, Bayer Leverkusen, difficult. So Simo seems to me that Juve's is definitely more affordable catching Manchester City, Leipzig, Benfica, Club Brugge, PSV Eindhoven, Lille, Stuttgart, Aston Villa. Apart from Manchester City I don't see any team on paper superior to Juve or in any case I see them all at least slightly inferior to Juventus on paper. It is very balanced because however PSV, Lille, Stuttgart and Aston Villa are not the worst of the third and fourth tiers, in fact, they are perhaps even the ones a slightly more insidious. It is very balanced but all games within reach, it seems to me. Yes, yes, I think Juve had the better draw, because it is true that it has, as you rightly said, in the part of the easiest teams, less easy of those groups there, but it is also true that of the former four has only one really strong one. Milan, for example, both drew the first bracket bad because he took two very strong ones. Plus it also has one of the strong ones in the second tier. Juve, on the other hand, got one very strong one from the first and zero from the second bracket. So from this point of view it went well for him. However, he has to make his own, as you said, between Aston Villa, PSV, those teams there that However, these are matches that he has to face with a certain commitment. Between, for example, I see now right here on the calendar, Red Star-Dinamo Zagreb of the Milan and PSV-Lille by Juve, in short, there is a good difference, as well as between Slovan Bratislava and Aston Villa. So you don't have to complicate your life after all, let's say. Quickly then Atalanta draws: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, not bad. Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic, Young Boys, Sturm Graz, Stuttgart. In all likelihood, Atalanta for me can go in the high playoffs. Bologna draws Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, Shakhtar Donetsk, Benfica, Lille, Sporting, Monaco and Aston Villa. Bologna was quite unlucky, in my opinion, as a draw level, although the first and second bands did not exactly catch monsters, but all very balanced teams. I think the goal for Bologna is to score those 7-8 points that get you in the top 24 to go to the play-offs. There, it could have been a bit simpler as a draw for Bologna, but it could get there. The playoffs will then be round-robin and while who goes in the round of 16 directly will play two fewer matches, basically. So to get to win this Champions League needed 13 games, now you need 15 or even 17 if you go for the playoffs. Simo, one last thought we do, then we close the clip. Who do we see ahead of us in terms of level of difficulty compared to Inter? Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern. Then we will perhaps play it with PSG, Barcelona, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen. Maybe Bayer Leverkusen even slightly under But yes, more or less these are our opponents. Then Bayern gets PSG and Barcelona. So a few points between them take it off. PSG catches Manchester City, Bayern, Atletico and Arsenal. And Liverpool Real, Bayer Leverkusen, we said it, Borussia Dortmund has Barcelona, Real, OK. Barcelona have Bayern, and then they were quite lucky in general Barcelona. Atlético has PSG, Leverkusen, quite lucky Atlético Madrid as well. But here, my feeling is that maybe compared to those 20 points that let's say at the beginning, the quota could be a little lower actually, to go to the round of 16. So 17-18 points you could be there, I'm not saying quietly, but you could be in it. Yes, with the possibility of ties, indeed, it can happen, must also fit there. Then if we also review, particularly for Inter, why do this speech on all of them is a mess, but if we also review the coupling home-and-away of the various teams, as we said, I pointed out in the pre-draw no longer playing first and second leg with the same team, which then balances, you also have to be lucky in drawing the right teams from face at home and the worst ones that is, you have to be lucky in this coupling. And for example in the case of Inter, in my opinion, having City away and the Leipzig at home is better, because catching City at home is also very easy that you do not win and even lose. Leipzig, on the other hand, which is a much more affordable team, is better in my opinion face it at home so you have an additional element to help you score those three points that would be decisive. I used to see before even between the third and fourth bands, I must say that all in all went quite well, because there the tables turn for me. If one is less strong, being already less strong in base, if you also face it away is not a big problem, while that maybe a little the more difficult it is better to have it at home, and in my opinion this is how it went. Of those in the second tier, between Arsenal and Bayer, the differences are relative here, I can't tell you if it's better the way it was for us or if it would have been better to reverse, but in the other three ballot boxes it went well anyway, so I'll make do with this. We make do. We will know the exact calendars on Saturday 31 August. First day 17, 18 or 19 September between Monza and Milan, with the possibility to also play on Thursdays, but only for the first week. The last day will be on 29 January, all matches in At the same time, two Champions League group matches will be played in January. 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