Inzaghi: ‘Milan deserved victory, Inter had wrong attitude’ | OneFootball

Simone Inzaghi admits Milan ‘did better and deserved the victory’ in the Derby della Madonnina, confessing Inter ‘had the wrong attitude’ and were ‘running on empty.’

The Nerazzurri knew they had as President Beppe Marotta put it ‘everything to lose’ in this fixture, having won the last six editions of the Derby della Madonnina and going in as outright favourites.

Christian Pulisic put the Rossoneri in front with a solo run and Federico Dimarco combined with Lautaro Martinez to cancel it out.

The game was intense with saves at both ends from Yann Sommer and Mike Maignan, but in the final minute Matteo Gabbia rose to nod in the Tijjani Reijnders free kick and seal Milan’s first victory over their rivals since 2022.

“Of course Milan are a very good team. They did better than us this evening and deserved the victory,” Inzaghi told DAZN.

“We had the wrong approach and weren’t enough of a team, which is rare for us. We didn’t start either half with the right attitude, I tried to change a few things, but it didn’t help the situation.

“We weren’t solid, we lost our shape and allowed too many through balls. There was a spell after we equalised for about 20 minutes when we had several more scoring opportunities, but then we came out for the second half with the same wrong attitude as the first. That was decisive, we weren’t working as a team enough.”

Inzaghi acknowledges Inter underperformed

Inter had played a great defensive performance midweek in the Champions League to draw 0-0 away to Manchester City, so did that take a lot out of them?

“I don’t think we were sharp, as we were making the wrong choices, both in possession and out. The two goals we conceded show that clearly. Milan went clear on goal twice in the first few minutes.

“We had to do more and I as the coach have to take responsibility. We realise this is a derby and we never gave the sensation that we were a team, which has been rare over the last three years,” continued Inzaghi.

“When you concede on a free kick, knowing that Gabbia is good in the air, these details make the difference. I had the sensation we were running on empty mentally more than physically. We can only try to take something positive from a painful defeat and learn from this on how to improve.”

Inzaghi made a triple substitution to inject fresh momentum, though it failed to transform their fortunes.

“Barella had a small problem, but the other changes were my attempt to shake things up and it didn’t really help. We are usually far more united and solid, so this defeat will force us to take a good look at ourselves and understand where we could’ve done better.”

Perhaps the warning from President Marotta before kick-off was not fully grasped by the Inter players, but Inzaghi feels it can be a teachable moment.

“It’s unexpected, we had worked well over the last couple of days in training, but the approach was wrong in both halves. Now we’ve already dropped a few too many points in Serie A and this is particularly sore.”