Luciano Spalletti was irritated by Inter’s “attitude” at Camp Nou in a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona. “We played below our capabilities and it mustn't happen again."
The Nerazzurri were taken down by a Rafinha volley and Jordi Alba angled drive.
Luciano Spalletti was irritated by Inter’s “attitude” at Camp Nou in a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona. “We played below our capabilities and it mustn't happen again."
The Nerazzurri were taken down by a Rafinha volley and Jordi Alba angled drive.
“In the first half, the idea we gave was of being pathetic and put under pressure. That’s what disappoints me the most, as we fought so hard to get here and I expected us to have the same attitude in the biggest game, but instead we weren’t courageous in our passing when we got it back, we never kept it cleanly, and Barcelona interpreted it well,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.
“I don’t like this attitude of feeling ‘poor things, they started to gain some courage as time wore on,’ because that is not something anyone wants to hear.
“When we won back the ball, we never managed to keep it, that’s the main problem. You have to pass it around to create the spaces to play in. If we win back the ball, don’t understand what we’re trying to do, then clearly Barcelona have the advantage.
“When they have the ball, they move it side to side, up and down, tiring you out. We should’ve won the ball back more often and kept it clean to put Barcelona under pressure.
“You can’t come here to counter and leave them the initiative for 90 minutes, because you won’t make your mark that way.”
Inter had won seven competitive games in a row and were very aggressive in the derby against Milan, but Spalletti concedes there is a different tempo in Spain.
“I think there is a difference with the Spanish sides, as they move the ball quicker, they think faster, are more reactive when a situation changes. You have to look beyond what you can see.
“If we can’t get past their initial pressure and take control of the gap left behind, clearly it becomes very difficult. We didn’t pass the ball properly, we were unable to elude their pressing and were always under pressure.
“We did less than what we were capable of this evening.”
PSV Eindhoven drew 2-2 with 10-man Tottenham Hotspur, meaning there is still a comfortable gap separating Inter from the others.
“It’s true, but if we want to be the team that has important ambitions at this level, we can’t try to depend on other results. It can happen, but what I want to focus on is that we played below our capabilities and it mustn’t happen again.
“I don’t want to think, oh it’s ok because Spurs only drew. No, that doesn’t make our performance any better.”