Interviewed by Letizia Gallucci for Inter Channel, the new Inter captain Andrea Ranocchia comments on the situation a few days before the playoffs in Europa League where Inter will face the Icelandic team Stjarnan:
A busy summer with lots of friendly matches was closed in Thessaloniki. How did it go?
“Good, I’d say. We closed the first half of the season working well, I have seen tremendous positivity in the group, the environment and the staff. It was challenging, because we made so many trips and faced strong teams, even further ahead of us in preparation. But we improved from the start, now the real part begins.”
From the hot in Greece to the cold in Iceland, against Stjarnan who are in the middle of their league and with more brilliance. How much attention does a match like that need?
“A lot, because these are the most difficult games. We will make a long journey, but we are preparing well. We must not underestimate the opponent, it would be the biggest mistake. We have to go there and play our game, trying to do everything we have tried in training.”
After the playoffs the league will start, against Torino which has proven to be competitive in the preliminaries of the Europa League. How important is it to start on the right foot in Serie A?
“Very important, they are all important matches, friendly or league or cup. Toro is a good team but we’ll start thinking about that after the Europa League, the focus must now be exclusively on the Europa League.”
There has been many reinforcements during the summer, and Milan will want to rebuild. How do you interpret the season with so many rivals?
“We must think of us, only that way can go far in all competitions. We must work on the concepts that the coach gives us, all of us improving on the personal and motivational level and we must think of us more than others, only that way we can get some satisfaction.”
We saw a close-knit group, which gave everything in training as well as in the tests. Could that make a difference this year, the strength of the group?
“It’s one thing that catches the eye even on the outside, the group starts off energized. Those who have won everything have left, they taught us a lot and I personally miss them. But now we have guys here who want to prove they can wear these colors for a long time and give us satisfaction. We have won little, I for one, now we all together want to bring Inter back to where it deserves to be.”
Source: fcinternews.it
