Walter Mazzarri said the 2-0 victory over Milan to leapfrog the Rossoneri into fifth place means Torino “no longer feel an inferiority complex with anybody.”
The Granata had not defeated Milan in Serie A since November 2001, yet secured the points with an Andrea Belotti penalty and Alex Berenguer half-volley.
As they now have a superior head-to-head record with Milan, Toro go into fifth place, although it’ll be sixth if Atalanta get a result with Udinese on Monday night.
Walter Mazzarri said the 2-0 victory over Milan to leapfrog the Rossoneri into fifth place means Torino “no longer feel an inferiority complex with anybody.”
The Granata had not defeated Milan in Serie A since November 2001, yet secured the points with an Andrea Belotti penalty and Alex Berenguer half-volley.
As they now have a superior head-to-head record with Milan, Toro go into fifth place, although it’ll be sixth if Atalanta get a result with Udinese on Monday night.
“We’ve learned tonight that we can fight it out with anyone. We deserved the victory, we’ve beaten big clubs so far this season, we beat Milan 2-0 and no longer feel an inferiority complex with anybody,” Mazzarri told Sky Sport Italia.
“The team is growing exponentially and I hope we can continue along this path until the end of the season and beyond.
“We can do even better if we improve our finishing and the final ball, as we’ve dropped a lot of points over the season because of that.
“I think tactically we are not similar to my Napoli, as the players have different characteristics and a Coach has to work with the players and their strengths. In a way, we are closer tactically to Atalanta this season.
“I saw that our wing-backs are eager to go forward, they work really hard and are prepared to run up and down, so we have to use those characteristics. We’ve always got a safety valve that protects the defence and keeps us solid, plus the forwards work hard too to help out. If the strikers don’t move, it doesn’t work.”
Mazzarri was sent off for dissent for the sixth time this season.
“I won’t say they are picking on me, but you can say that… I wasn’t insulting the referee anyway, I was discussing with the members of my own bench some decisions that were clearly wrong.
“Once they sent me off, the officials started focusing a bit more on what was happening on the pitch, so maybe that was helpful.”