Inter coach Simone Inzaghi is Europe's most underrated manager - he deserves to be spoken about among the elite

Diego Simeone, meanwhile, acknowledged after the draw for this season's last 16 that his Atletico Madrid side had been paired with a team in "extraordinary" form being coached wonderfully well by one of his former Lazio team-mates.

"I like how Inter play so much," the Argentine enthused. "It's going to be a very hard and difficult tie." Indeed, one could easily argue that it's the tie of the round. It may lack the glamour and historical significance of the 'Diego Maradona derby' between Napoli and Barcelona, but both of those sides are struggling so badly this season that the former is already on its second coach of the campaign, while the latter are already looking for a new one.

Interestingly, Inzaghi's name has yet to be bandied about in the heated debate over Xavi's potential successor. He's obviously very happy at San Siro and was rightly rewarded with a new and improved deal after Istanbul that binds him to Inter until 2025.

However, great coaches - including Simeone - are always linked with top jobs irrespective of their contractual situation at the time. It's curious, then, that Inzaghi isn't one of them.

Just like Barca, Liverpool are presently looking for a new manager following Jurgen Klopp's shock decision to step down this summer, while Thomas Tuchel and Erik ten Hag are both under enormous pressure right now, at Bayern Munich and Manchester United, respectively.

Amid all of the speculation over who might be the next man to take the hot seat at these massive clubs, Inzaghi never gets a mention. Why?

Some will point to the fact that Inzaghi was under intense pressure at Inter less than a year ago and that some reactionary supporters were even calling for him to be sacked after a Serie A slump in form that jeopardised the team's hopes of a top-four finish.

However, CEO Beppe Marotta insisted that the club "never thought, not even for a second, of replacing Inzaghi". The reason why was the way in which Inzaghi had steadied the ship at San Siro after the turbulent summer of 2021 that saw Antonio Conte, Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku leave the club. Conte had effectively quit over the sale of Hakimi to Paris Saint-Germain, which was required because of the financial difficulties Inter's owners, the Suning Group, were experiencing as a result of the pandemic.

In the circumstances, then, neither departure came as a massive surprise. However, nobody could have foreseen the cardiac issue that led to key midfielder Christian Eriksen having to take a break from the game, or star striker Lukaku's shock decision to force through a move to Chelsea.

Inzaghi had intended to build his team around the latter, whom he had even contacted before his appointment to discuss how he intended to make the absolute best out of the Belgian. So, after a summer of setbacks, Inter vice-president Javier Zanetti even warned the fans to brace themselves for a "difficult and complicated" campaign.

"This must be said to be fair to everyone," the club legend told Sky Sport Italia. "But it must also be said that we will be competitive, as Inzaghi is already working well." The newly-appointed coach ended up surpassing expectations, though.

Missing out on the Scudetto came as a bitter blow: Inter won eight of their nine final league games, but were pipped to top spot by city rivals AC Milan because of a calamitous loss at Bologna featuring a dreadful and decisive goalkeeping error from No.2 Ionuț Radu.

However, Inzaghi led the Nerazzurri to Coppa Italia glory - and into the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time in a decade. Last season's European campaign would go even better, with Inzaghi twice getting the better of Xavi as Inter took four points off Barcelona to reach the knockout stages at the considerable expense of the cash-strapped Catalans.

Despite the domestic struggles, Inzaghi continued to impress in continental competition after the winter break, as Inter eliminated Porto and Benfica before beating Milan both home and away to set up a Champions League decider with the mighty Man City.

Tellingly, the unfortunate 1-0 loss in Istanbul remains Inzaghi's only defeat as Inter boss in a final, having won both of the Coppa Italia deciders he has contested since arriving at San Siro, as well as all three consecutive Supercoppa Italia showdowns.

Furthermore, that sole defeat actually appears to have not only solidified his position with his employers, but also his standing among the players. Indeed, the nature of Inter's performance has only strengthened their belief in their coach and what Lautaro Martinez has called "his idea of football".

"We press very high and that allows us to win the ball back quickly, create scoring opportunities and keep the opposition pinned back," the striker told Sky Sport Italia.

Martinez has taken his game to a whole new level since Inzaghi took over, and is presently playing the best football of his career. He's not the only one, either. Francesco Acerbi has fully vindicated Inzaghi's decision to sign the veteran defender from former club Lazio, Federico Dimarco has developed into one of the best wing-backs in world football, while Hakan Calhanoglu has been a revelation in his new deep-lying playmaker role.

All three credit the coach for their fine form. "[It's just] the way he speaks with the players and how he behaves with us," Calhanoglu explained. "He always wants to win and gets angry when we slow down. But once the training session finishes, you see he such a big heart. He is very calm and we can talk about anything with him."

Marotta, meanwhile, says that Inter have never been so sure of themselves since his own arrival at the club, because Inzaghi has inspired everyone around him with the way in which he "withstood the criticism and pressure" that he endured last season to create a "winning mentality" that has propelled Inter nine points clear of Juventus at the summit of Serie A - despite having played one game fewer than the Bianconeri.

"You can see the influence of the coach," Martinez said, "in the way in which we work hard in training every day. We've been doing well with this coach for nearly three years now and we continue to improve. We are showing that we deserve to be at this level."

And that they deserve more respect, too. Simeone certainly won't underestimate Inzaghi's Inter ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash; nobody else should either.