Inter host Roma amid flak from De Boer

MILAN: Inter Milan’s Champions League qualifying hopes could hinge on victory over Roma this Sunday, and former coach Frank De Boer believes the ‘Nerazzurri’ only have themselves to blame.

Victory at a packed San Siro on Sunday would see the 2010 competition winners, now under the helm of Stefano Pioli, take another step towards redressing the balance.

But De Boer suggested Inter could be even closer to their objective — if key players had acted differently during his ill-fated spell that lasted just 85 days.

He notably faced the fallout from captain Mauro Icardi’s controversial autobiography, as well as the nocturnal antics of Croatia midfielder Marcelo Brozovic.

“At Inter I had to deal with so many things away from football, you lose energy,” he said in an interview with dailymail.co.uk.

“Every time you thought, ‘Finally, a good result, everything has calmed down’, then comes Mauro Icardi’s book (in which the captain criticised the club’s Ultras) or Marcelo Brozovic is in the discotheque and you have to punish him.

“We only had three months but honestly, it felt like a year.”

Whatever Icardi’s past sins — he was forced to republish his book following angry complaints by fans over inconsistencies — Pioli will welcome the Argentine back with open arms from a two-game ban.

During that absence Icardi dropped four goals behind Serie A sharpshooter Edin Dzeko, who shares the league lead with Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain on 19 goals.