Leonardo lays down title task

Published May. 16, 2011 11:42 a.m. ET

foxsports

Inter Milan coach Leonardo has warned Serie A champions AC Milan his team will go all out to win the league title next season.

The former Milan boss made sure that Inter ended the campaign as runners-up to his ex-club thanks to a 1-1 draw at Napoli on Sunday night.

"Challenges are the very essence of life and I'm ready for them," Leonardo said. "Now I want to keep on improving as a coach.

"I tend to take a positive view of every experience.

"I feel privileged considering the life I have lived and can still live, both as a sportsman and a human being.

"Finishing second in the table is very important.

"Even if everyone would have preferred it if we had come first, we have accomplished our mission.

"This has been quite a marathon, starting from January 6, and finally in the last few weeks we have been able to run the training sessions as we wanted. The results are positive."

Leonardo led AC Milan to a third-placed finish last summer before departing after a 13-year association with the club.

He took over at Inter from sacked Rafael Benitez in December, but could not avoid Milan ending the Nerazzuri's Serie A dominance after five successive titles.

Inter, who take on Palermo in the Coppa Italia final in Rome on May 29, will not be making drastic moves in the transfer market, according to Leonardo.

He said: "This team is coming to the end of a complicated season which was split in two, but the squad is united.

"I don't think there will be much to change because the team is full of resources.

"Neither do I think we need to revolutionise everything as the foundations are here.

"I consider the original squad the confirmation of a solid base and the surprises are the four players who arrived in January and who all contributed greatly to the season."

Inter end the campaign at home to Catania on Sunday.