Andrea Ranocchia is pleased with Inter’s summer efforts and fired up for Stjarnan in the Europa League.
The captain spoke to Inter Channel after two disappointing friendly outings, losing 3-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt and drawing 0-0 with PAOK.
Andrea Ranocchia is pleased with Inter’s summer efforts and fired up for Stjarnan in the Europa League.
The captain spoke to Inter Channel after two disappointing friendly outings, losing 3-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt and drawing 0-0 with PAOK.
“I think the summer went well. I saw a very positive attitude within the squad, the fans and the staff. It was hard, as we travelled a lot and faced some strong teams, many of them far ahead in pre-season preparations.
“We have improved since the start and now we get into the real season.”
That begins on Wednesday night with a trip to Iceland, as Inter play Stjarnan in the first leg of the Europa League preliminary round.
“We need a lot of concentration, because these are the most difficult games. It is a long journey and we cannot underestimate our opponents, as that would be the biggest mistake we could make.
“We must go there and play our game, trying to implement everything we practiced in training. After that we have Torino in the opening Serie A round, but right now our minds need to be exclusively focused on the Europa League.”
This is an important year for Inter, as the core who won the Treble – including Javier Zanetti, Diego Milito, Esteban Cambiasso and Walter Samuel – have all left.
“Those who won it all taught us a great deal, but now they are gone and personally I miss them very much,” mused Ranocchia.
“Now there are lads who want to prove they deserve to wear the Inter colours for many years and achieve something together.
“We haven’t won much so far, but all together we want to bring Inter back to where it belongs. You can immediately see from the outside that this group is fired up.”