Henrikh Mkhitaryan warns Inter that ‘the 1-0 does not count for much’ and they must play to win in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against Atletico Madrid.
It was a hard-fought and tactically difficult match, as to be expected against Diego Simeone’s Atleti, who tried to neutralise the Nerazzurri danger at San Siro.
Marko Arnautovic came off the bench at half-time to replace injured Marcus Thuram and missed several sitters, but eventually managed to turn in the rebound from a tight angle after Lautaro Martinez’s effort was parried by Jan Oblak.
“Now there is another game to be played, so while it was nice to win, the 1-0 does not count for much,” Mkhitaryan told Mediaset Infinity.
“We created as many chances as possible to score, but we knew that we were up against a strong opponent that defends well. Fortunately, we scored a goal and now go to Madrid with an advantage.”
They can take that 1-0 lead into the second leg at the Wanda Metropolitano on March 13.
“Unfortunately, winning 1-0 means we have done nothing yet, we must go to Madrid and play as if it was still 0-0, we must play to win.”
Inter reached the Champions League Final last season, losing only narrowly to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, and that further boosted their confidence.
“We must do our best and continue the journey we were on last season, as we want to get back into the Final.”
#ChampionsLeague | #InterAtleticoMadrid, #Mkhitaryan: "Questo risultato conta poco perché c'è un ritorno da giocare" 👉 https://t.co/N8KyWjN6Lc pic.twitter.com/Oa8X13QwJY
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) February 20, 2024