Inter's recent slump does not overshadow progress, says coach Inzaghi

BARCELONA, Spain, April 29 (Reuters) - Inter Milan's recent poor form does not erase the progress they have made over the last four years, coach Simone Inzaghi said ahead of their Champions League semi-final first leg against Barcelona on Wednesday.

Inter dropped to second in Serie A last weekend following consecutive losses to Bologna and AS Roma either side of their defeat by rivals AC Milan in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final that ended their treble hopes.

"The last week does not erase the work done in four years," Inzaghi, in charge of Inter since 2021, told a press conference on Tuesday.

"In the last three games we had to do better, but after four years we are here competing for all the objectives, when someone had said that it would be difficult to get into the top four in Italy."

For Inter, who will compete in the Club World Cup after the season ends, the tie against Barcelona provides an opportunity to forget last week's woes.

"We come from a bad week, but we can do and we have to do better," Inzaghi said.

"We're excited about the game we're going to play tomorrow against probably the best team in the world, the most offensive, the team that scores the most goals.

"We need to have the ability to play with sacrifice if we have to. We will have to be very clean technically, we need a lot of components to beat such a strong opponent...

"They have incredible numbers and have won two titles, competing for two more. We have maximum respect, but no fear... We want to play a semi-final like a real Inter tomorrow."

Striker Marcus Thuram, Inter's top scorer in Serie A with 14 goals, has returned from injury for the Italian champions, although the manager did not confirm whether the Frenchman would play.

"Thuram had his first training session today with the team," Inzaghi said.

"We haven't seen him since (the second leg against) Bayern Munich. He did a good job and gave good signals but I have to evaluate tomorrow morning and I'll talk to him again.

"The others apart from (defender Benjamin) Pavard are all there."

Pavard was forced off after 15 minutes of their clash against Roma with an ankle issue. (Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk Editing by Toby Davis)