MILAN : Inter Milan extended their lead at the top of Serie A on Saturday with a comeback win over Monza and, while the players know there is much still to do, talk of a treble has well and truly begun.
After a 2-0 win away to Feyenoord in the Champions League last-16 first leg in midweek, Inter have one foot in the quarter-finals and they have a Coppa Italia semi-final against AC Milan to look forward to in April.
Bottom of the table Monza looked like pulling off a shock when they took a two-goal lead but Marko Arnautovic and Hakan Calhanoglu scored to level for Inter before an own goal gave them the win.
“We can’t underestimate teams, the opponents are good. In the end we dominated, we tried everything and we are happy with the victory,” Calhanoglu told Sky.
“The coach’s mentality is right, we’ll try to win the treble. It’s a very long season, let’s take it step by step.”
Calhanoglu also praised Arnautovic, who scored just his second league goal of the season on what was his first Serie A start of the campaign.
“He’s very important for the locker room, in difficult moments he lifts everyone up with the right mentality.”
Arnautovic has already experienced winning the treble with Inter, in 2010, but back then the on-loan striker saw even less of the action, making three brief substitute appearances across all competitions.
“I was a fan when Inter won the first treble. I was with them, it’s a pride for me but I don’t feel it is mine because maybe I played two or three games,” Arnautovic said.
“Now I’m here, we try to win everything, knowing that it’s not easy.
“This victory weighs heavily because in the first 25 minutes we were 2-0 down, then we did our job, as did our fans. We are very happy but it is not over because the championship is still very long.”
Inter defender Yann Bisseck also believes the club can win another treble.
“100 per cent possible, we are still in all competitions,” Bisseck said.
“Let’s go step by step, concentrated, then let’s see what happens.”
Inter have a four-point lead in the standings but Napoli can move back to within one point if they beat visiting Fiorentina on Sunday.
