Inter face a champions’ test amid late-season collapse

Inter Milan head into the Uefa Champions League semi-finals at risk of finishing the season empty-handed after a late-season slump killed their treble hopes and left them wondering where the next win will come from.

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Wednesday’s daunting clash at Barcelona could hardly have come at a worse time for Inter who, since reaching the last four, have lost three consecutive matches without scoring a goal.

Those three defeats handed Napoli a three-point lead at the top of Serie A with four matches remaining and saw Inter crash out of the Italian Cup following a dismal 3-0 derby defeat to AC Milan last week.

Simone Inzaghi’s team look tired and bereft of ideas up-front. Sunday’s 1-0 home loss to Roma was played in front of a soporific San Siro crowd — a stark contrast to the raucous atmos-phere that had accompanied their thrilling passage past Bayern Munich a fortnight ago.

“We deserved more and created situations from which we failed to get anything, largely because we lacked sharpness,’ said Inzaghi on Sunday.