Soccer Football - Champions League - Inter Milan v RB Leipzig - San Siro, Milan, Italy - November 26, 2024 Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo
MILAN (Reuters) - Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi applauded his side after they held on for a slender 1-0 home win against RB Leipzig on Tuesday to go top of the Champions League standings.
An own goal by RB Leipzig defender Castello Lukeba put Inter in front in the 27th minute before the Italian champions let their guard down in the second half and the visitors threatened an equaliser.
"We are satisfied, we knew the importance of tonight's match," Inzaghi told Sky Sport.
"We were playing against a valuable team, who until Sunday had the best defence in the Bundesliga. We played a great game, we were always balanced and it's not easy with them.
"It's a shame we didn't score the second goal, but the team suffered relatively little."
Denzel Dumfries misfired when presented with a good chance just after the restart and Henrikh Mkhitaryan thought he had doubled Inter's lead in stoppage time, but the goal was ruled out for a foul in the buildup.
"There is clearly satisfaction, but to get into the top eight we still need a small step," Inzaghi said.
Inter top the table with 13 points from five games, one point above second-placed Barcelona and third-placed Liverpool, who host defending champions Real Madrid on Wednesday.
The top eight teams in the competition's new league phase qualify automatically for the last 16, and the next 16 go into a two-legged playoff to join them.
"We've had an excellent run, four consecutive victories and five games without conceding a goal," Inzaghi added.
"I was afraid of tonight's game, but the team is mature and knew not to be influenced by Leipzig's zero points."
Leipzig, who are third in the Bundesliga, have not won a game in November and are still searching for their first European points after five consecutive defeats.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Toby Davis)
