Mancio feels the pinch
Roberto Mancini says he isn’t looking for excuses after Inter’s embarrassing defeat to Bayern Munich, but insists his squad has been shrunk by injuries and bans.
“I think the game changed after we went down to 10 men. We had planned to take no risks in the first half and then push after the break, but unfortunately there was this dismissal and a mistake on the opening goal,” he said of the 2-0 home loss.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic saw red for a second bookable offence on the hour mark and Fabio Grosso left them in nine men for an elbow on Willy Sagnol in the final minutes.
“I don’t want people to say I look for excuses, so I have nothing to say about the referee. The players have to stay calm, because despite being in 10 men we were pushing forward and should’ve kept our heads.”
Patrick Vieira was already suspended for this tie after his dismissal in the 1-0 defeat at Sporting Lisbon.
We’ve had three red cards in two games and you really can’t expect to get away with that in Europe. You end up paying for those mistakes.”
Nonetheless, Mancini remains confident that Inter can reach the knock-out stage despite propping up Group B with 0 points after two games.
“It’s very possible, as we need 10 points to qualify. I think if we win the next three then we’ll at least end up second, so there’s no need to panic. Yes, the situation is more complicated, but we still have that visit to Munich.”
The Nerazzurri were accused of having too large a squad to maintain the peace, but Mancio insists he needed more players.
“Of course we’re struggling to maintain freshness with so many games and injuries, but it’s not an excuse. This game was heading comfortably for 0-0 until the red cards and some mistakes in defence. We barely ran any risks,” said the tactician.
“I’m not saying we played well, but this was a difficult game against a tough opponent after we’d lost the first match. It was important to pick up points, whether one or three, but I don’t believe the team collapsed. It’s true that there’s pressure on Inter and always has been, but we want to win the next tie and hope it’ll kick-start our European campaign.”
Luis Figo was particularly disappointing in the rhombus midfield, but the Inter midfield looks threadbare without Vieira and Esteban Cambiasso.
“We lost Juan Sebastian Veron over the summer and he brought us great quality. At times we put Figo behind the strikers to raise that quota, but we’re struggling at the moment because there are few options available.”
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