Simone Inzaghi praised his Inter players who "play less" despite coming within minutes of being eliminated from the Coppa Italia on Tuesday.
The holders trailed Serie B side Parma 1-0 with just three minutes remaining at San Siro, before Lautaro Martinez equalised and Francesco Acerbi headed in the winner in extra time to save their blushes and send them through to the quarter-finals.
The irony of Acerbi heading in the winner was not lost on Inzaghi after the centre-back's effort against Monza in their previous game was ruled out by the referee, causing consternation among the Inter camp as his whistle meant that the VAR could not intervene on what appeared to be a questionable call.
Inzaghi was not in the mood to dwell on the weekend's 2-2 draw in Serie A, instead praising the players who came in for cup duty and, eventually, delivered.
"The whole world saw what happened in Monza, but we were only interested in this game," the Nerazzurri head coach said. "We were doing fairly well even if we had to move the ball better. Then with their goal it got complicated, but I had an excellent response from those who play less.
"I would have liked to avoid extra time, but last year too with Empoli [3-2 win after extra time] it was difficult."
Inter trailed to a superb strike from substitute Stanko Juric in the 38th minute, and did not have a shot on target until Martinez forced an equaliser in the 88th.
In the second half of extra time, Acerbi reacted to a punched clearance from veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to head the ball over the 44-year-old and into the net.
Parma were the equals of their hosts for large parts of the contest, but Inzaghi insisted he was impressed by his team's effort.
"Those who have played the least have given excellent answers, we must continue like this," he added. "In the Champions League we have gone beyond expectations, in the league we lost points at the start, but there are many games to go."
Romelu Lukaku did not feature, but his coach believes the Belgium striker will have plenty to offer once they can get him fit and playing regularly.
"He remains fundamental for us," Inzaghi said. "He had an injury and had problems managing it. Saturday [v Monza] he was limited by his inflammatory problem. Tomorrow he will continue to rest, then day-by-day we would like to bring him back to the top. If we could have done that before, it would have given us the extra points we are missing."
Robertson warns Liverpool cannot make any more mistakes in top-four pursuit
Andrew Robertson warned Liverpool team-mates they cannot afford to make any more mistakes if they are to meet their minimum expectation of Champions League qualification.
The Reds have endured a disappointing season, with Jurgen Klopp's efforts not helped by a string of significant injuries to key players.
Last season, Liverpool won an EFL Cup and FA Cup double, reached the Champions League final, and finished just one point behind Premier League winners Manchester City.
However, this term has seen them fail to defend either cup crown, they were eliminated from the Champions League at the last-16 stage, and are facing an uphill battle to finish in the top four domestically.
Sixth-placed Liverpool are seven points behind Tottenham in fourth, and although the Reds have two games in hand on Spurs, so do Newcastle United, who only trail the north Londoners by a single point.
The underwhelming nature of Liverpool's campaign is not lost on Robertson, who thinks they are on their last life if they want to pip Spurs and Newcastle – they now face consecutive games against City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
"The motivations are the exact same," he told reporters ahead of Saturday's trip to City. "We want Champions League football, and so the motivation is the exact same as though we were going for trophies.
"It is obviously a big week; we are playing against three big teams and it's going to be an intense week, but it's what you look forward to when you come to this club. These are the big games you want to be involved in.
"We don't want to be in this position, and…we don't really have time to waste, we don't have any mistakes left in us if we want to achieve top four."
He added: "[Expectations] have to be on the highest level when you play at this club – you don't get an option not to do that, the people around the club demand that. I think we do that, but we have just lacked a little bit of consistency this season.
"In the last five or six years, consistency is the one word that would be put next to our name, as we always showed up and even when not at our best, we still managed to grind out results. We haven’t done that this season, and we have to fix that."
Despite their issues this season, Robertson remains adamant Liverpool belong in the Champions League.
But he accepts the Reds cannot take qualification for granted.
"Going into April, not being in the Champions League, FA Cup or League Cup, and then not being in a title race is so disappointing – it's a position we don't want to be in.
"We are out of every competition, but we still believe we are a team that can compete in every competition.
"So to fix that, we have to be in these tournaments again next season, and the only way to do that is finishing in the top four.
"So we've got 12 games to fix it, and we are determined to put our all into those next 12 games."
Chelsea beat Lyon in dramatic penalty shoot-out, Wolfsburg fend off PSG to reach semi-finals
Chelsea sealed a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Lyon to reach the semi-finals of the Women's Champions League, having rescued the tie through Maren Mjelde's last-gasp spot-kick in extra-time.
Despite winning last week's first leg 1-0, Chelsea appeared destined for an exit when Sara Dabritz drilled into the bottom-right corner in extra time after Venessa Gilles' flick had levelled the tie.
However, a trip on Lauren James gave Mjelde the chance to keep the game alive at the last, and the Norwegian made no mistake eight minutes into stoppage time, taking the contest to a shoot-out.
James and Wendie Renard both saw their kicks saved before Jess Carter converted, meaning Lyon's Lindsey Horan had to score to keep the holders in the competition.
Chelsea's Ann-Katrin Berger got down to her right to palm Horan's weak kick away, ensuring the Blues teed up an enticing semi-final tie against Barcelona – who beat Emma Hayes' team 4-0 in the 2021 final.
Earlier on Thursday, two-time champions Wolfsburg clinched a 1-1 draw at home to Paris Saint-Germain, recording a 2-1 aggregate success to set up a semi-final tie with Arsenal.
Having taken a first-leg lead through Dominique Janssen's penalty in the French capital last week, Wolfsburg found themselves with a two-goal cushion when Alexandra Popp fired home from outside the area 20 minutes in.
That strike came somewhat against the run of play after Kadidiatou Diani had an effort chalked off for offside, but there was no denying the forward when she nodded in on the half-hour mark.
Wolfsburg improved after the break and missed several chances to make the tie safe, but it was of little consequence as PSG failed to find a crucial second goal.
Dyche focused on Everton survival fight after Premier League alleged FFP breach
Everton manager Sean Dyche is focused on the club's fight to avoid relegation after the Toffees were referred to an independent commission over an alleged breach of the Premier League's financial rules.
Last week, the Premier League alleged Everton had broken the competition's profitability and sustainability rules during the 2021-22 season, which they finished in 16th place.
Everton ended last season four points clear of the relegation zone, but the Merseyside club have found themselves embroiled in another battle to stay in the top flight this term.
With reports suggesting Everton could face a point deduction, a club statement said the Toffees were "prepared to robustly defend" their position.
Asked about the alleged breach on Thursday, Dyche said: "There is no situation at the moment. The club's statement covers everything. I'm happy to go along with that.
"I'm more focused on what's going on on the pitch, obviously. The club have assured me the statement is correct and the rest of it will come down to the powers that be to do what they have to do.
"At the minute, we are really focusing on what is going on now. Of course there are background views on the future but I'm working with the squad now, working to get more points and to make sure we get what we all want, which is to be in the Premier League."
Everton sit two points above the bottom three ahead of Monday's meeting with Tottenham at Goodison Park, having salvaged a 2-2 draw at Chelsea prior to the international break.
Dyche also confirmed striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is "back out on the grass" and progressing well from injury, but he not yet ready to participate in full sessions.
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