Joao Cancelo admits Inter “feel a bit of anxiety in playing well”, but assures “we’re working well” to beat Milan.
The Nerazzurri have been on a poor run of form, despite last weekend’s win over Benevento, and they face their city rivals on Sunday night.
“We feel a bit of anxiety in playing well,” Cancelo told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I think that anxiety is contagious. We’re trying to improve though and return to what we were in the first half of the season.
Joao Cancelo admits Inter “feel a bit of anxiety in playing well”, but assures “we’re working well” to beat Milan.
The Nerazzurri have been on a poor run of form, despite last weekend’s win over Benevento, and they face their city rivals on Sunday night.
“We feel a bit of anxiety in playing well,” Cancelo told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I think that anxiety is contagious. We’re trying to improve though and return to what we were in the first half of the season.
“The derby? As they say in Portugal, derbies aren’t to play, they’re to win. I think [Coach Gennaro] Gattuso is doing a great job.
“I’ve seen some of their matches, they’ve improved in defence and they are more compact. [Hakan] Calhanoglu and Suso are two very strong players.
“Milan have a lot of strength and consistency in the middle of the park, they’re a good team.
“We’re a great team, and we’ll try to win. We have the squad to qualify for the Champions League.
“It’ll take work, it’s easy to talk but we have to prove it on the pitch with facts. We’re working well to achieve that goal.”
Cancelo was also asked about the Scudetto race, with Juventus four points behind Napoli with a game in hand.
“I’m in favour of good play, and Napoli are the ones who offer that. Juventus are good at defending, a typical Italian team, hard to face.
“I’m a [Kalidou] Koulibaly fan, excluding my teammates obviously.”
The Nerazzurri’s next three fixtures are Milan, Napoli and Sampdoria, is it better to have a tough run of fixtures?
“I think so, yes,” Cancelo agreed.
“Small teams create more difficulties, defend well and have quality players. Important games are difficult, but you always have room to play and you do it in front of a big crowd.
“The Spanish league is more technical than the Serie A, but here the tournament is more difficult.
“On a personal level I have learned so many new things. It’s started as a good year on an individual level and I hope it can be that collectively too.”