Hakan Calhanoglu released a statement insisting his comments blaming Inter coach Simone Inzaghi for the derby defeat to Milan was ‘evidently misinterpreted.’
The comments were made during a video interview with Tivibu Spor in Turkey that immediately went viral in Italy as well.
“Inter are a much stronger squad than Milan,” said Calhanoglu. “We lost a derby that changed suddenly at the 75th minute after Ivan Perisic and I were substituted. We were leading 1-0 and then lost 2-1, so the coach contributed to the defeat and I told him as much.
“In the Coppa Italia semi-final, we beat Milan 3-0.”
The idea that the midfielder was openly blaming Inzaghi for that defeat and had said it to his face inevitably caused shockwaves among Inter fans.
Calhanoglu reacted rapidly, releasing a statement in Italian that tried to calm the situation down.
“Evidently some of my words were misinterpreted by some sections of the media: I never criticised any coach, let alone Mister Inzaghi, who I consider to be a great coach and one who strongly wanted me at Inter, putting his faith in me.
“If my teammates and I had a great season, and won two trophies, a lot of that is down to him.”
Inter won the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana, but lost out to Milan in the Serie A race.
Notably, Calhanoglu did not take back or calm any of the criticism he had also aimed at former Milan teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic, nor the idea that Inter are a better team than the Scudetto winners.
It certainly is not the first time that Inzaghi’s decisions in that Derby della Madonnina have been criticised, because the Nerazzurri were leading 1-0 when he opted to substitute both Calhanoglu and Perisic, going on to lose 2-1.