Simone Inzaghi hopes Inter ‘can learn’ from the Atletico Madrid loss and Napoli draw, but is above all disappointed because ‘we wanted to dedicate a victory to the fans.’
The Nerazzurri had a nightmare few days, as they crashed out of the Champions League on penalties to Atletico Madrid, then their run of 10 consecutive Serie A victories came to a halt at San Siro with this 1-1 draw against Napoli.
Matteo Darmian had opened the scoring just before half-time, but Juan Jesus was left unmarked to nod in a flicked-on corner at the far post.
“There is a little disappointment, especially considering how the game was going,” Inzaghi told DAZN.
“We were up against the reigning Champions of Italy and Napoli have a lot of quality, but unfortunately we made a naïve error that cost us the victory. Yann Sommer didn’t have a save to make.
“I don’t think we can complain after 10 wins in a row and a draw.”
Darmian insisted he did not get the final touch on that corner, so felt it should’ve been a goal kick instead.
“I would like to see it again, but overall the referee had a good game, helped by the good behaviour of the players on the pitch.”
It wasn’t entirely good behaviour, considering Juan Jesus accused Francesco Acerbi of using a racist term, especially galling on the weekend when all coaches and players are wearing ‘Keep Racism Out’ stickers.
“He will explain, I don’t know what happened and therefore cannot comment.”
Worryingly, Inter had not conceded a single goal in the final 15 minutes this season, only to let costly ones in against both Atletico Madrid and now Napoli during that period.
“We are coming off a very tough week in the calendar. I congratulated the lads tonight, because we got home at 5.30am on Thursday from Madrid and had a day and a half to prepare this match.”
There were concerns about how the fans would react to that Champions League exit, but they greeted the team bus with fireworks and a huge banner reading ‘Proud of you.’
“We are above all disappointed for the fans, because they gave us goosebumps with their welcome to the stadium and we really wanted to dedicate a victory to them. We went to salute them at the final whistle and I think they liked what they saw on the field.
“This game proves you learn something new every week, as we should’ve marked better on that corner at the 81st minute. I think what happened was that after so many substitutions, there was confusion over who was supposed to mark Juan Jesus. We will learn from it.
“You can always gain something positive from a defeat and we wanted to continue in Europe, but Atletico Madrid got there ahead of us. It’s very disappointing, but a teachable moment.”
They remain the runaway Serie A leaders, although the advantage over Milan is now cut to 14 points with nine rounds to go.
“There are nine games left, 27 points up for grabs, we must maintain concentration.”