Inter's poor recent form does not define the progress they have made over the last four years, according to head coach Simone Inzaghi.

Since Inzaghi joined the club in 2021, Inter have won the 2023-24 Scudetto, the 2021-22 and 2022-23 Coppa Italia titles and were Champions League runners-up to Manchester City in 2023.

But after losses to Bologna and Roma in Serie A, which saw them slip to second in the table, and a defeat against rivals AC Milan in the Coppa Italia semi-final, their treble hopes are in tatters.

"The last week does not erase the work done in four years," Inzaghi told a press conference ahead of their Champions League semi-final first leg away to Barcelona.

"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."

But for Inter, a tie away from their domestic problems offers a chance to forget their issues at home.

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

"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."

In better news for Inter, top scorer Marcus Thuram has returned from injury ahead of the Barcelona match. Inzaghi, though, would not confirm whether the Frenchman would definitely feature in Spain.

"Thuram had his first training session today with the team," he 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,g and I'll talk to him again."