Barella Blames Mistakes for Inter’s 3-1 Derby Loss to Milan
Nicolo Barella expressed that Inter’s 3-1 defeat to Milan on Saturday evening was a result of “individual and collective mistakes,” while defending Cristian Chivu’s tactical decisions in the match.
Milan took an early lead thanks to goals from Christian Pulisic and Adrien Rabiot within the first 10 minutes. Alessandro Bastoni managed to narrow the gap with a header midway through the first half, but Diego Moreira, who assisted the first two goals for Milan, secured a two-goal advantage again with a superb free-kick just before halftime.
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You can see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.
Barella reacts after Milan 3-1 Inter: ‘We needed to do better’
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia after the match, Barella acknowledged that Inter’s performance was not up to par right from the start.
“We paid for individual and collective mistakes,” admitted the Italy international. “Sometimes, as I’ve said when we’ve won as well, we haven’t always approached it at our best. Not to say badly, but we need to improve.”
“There have been derbies where we’ve played well and not won, others where we’ve played badly and drawn. There have been ups and downs in those derbies. Today we needed to do better to keep our [unbeaten] streak alive.”
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Questions arose regarding head coach Chivu’s choice to use a lone striker for the first time this season in such a crucial derby. However, Barella clarified this decision was influenced by Lautaro Martinez’s injury and the illnesses affecting Pio Esposito and Ange-Yoan Bonny.
“We were in a bit of an emergency because Pio and Bonny both had a fever. Not having fresh changes in attack conditioned the coach’s choices, and he had to try to do something different. It’s the attitude that counts in these games. We struggled to get going, but we realised that too late. The formation doesn’t matter.”
